B&Q is facing claims that it threatened its suppliers by demanding they pay hundreds of thousands of pounds to stay on its books.
The DIY giant approached companies demanding contributions to an “investment-for-growth” programme, an investigation by The Times has revealed.
One supplier described the move as a “massively underhand cash grab”.
The retailer, which is owned by FTSE 100-listed Kingfisher, has taken a harder line with its supply chain after the appointment of Darren Blackhurst, the former Asda and Tesco executive, as its commercial director last year.
Suppliers, who spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity, said that they had been subjected to verbal “pay-to-stay” demands amounting to as much as a tenth of their turnover with B&Q.
The requests were described by