Wesfarmers is trialling smaller store formats following the conversion of the first 12 Homebase stores to Bunnings Warehouses.

The Bicester store, covering 36,700 sq ft, which opens this month, will be around a third of the size of its flagship Milton Keynes store and less than half the size of a number of the others.

The Homebase store at Walton on Thames is due to close in early January for conversion over a three-week period to the group’s smallest UK Bunnings to date – at 26,234 sq.ft., almost bijou compared to MK’s 90,000 sq.ft.

Bunnings UK and Ireland boss Peter ‘PJ’ Davis says success of the pilot schemes is an absolute pre-curser to investment in converting the rest of the 250-plus Homebase estate.

 “We are still in phase one of our acquisition plan and trialling Bunnings pilot stores is an important part of this,” Davis told Retail Week. “We are testing and learning from different formats, store sizes and locations.”

Bunnings’ challenging UK market debut resulted in losses of £54m in its first full year here, but one-off transition and restructuring costs accounted for more than a third of the total.