Franchising has played little part in the Irish DIY sector, until now. Agribusiness Correspondent RAY RYAN reports on the man trying to mix the best of traditional hardware stores with the range and choice offered by big business.

STORE group ADM Londis said it wants to put takeover speculation behind and concentrate on its core business.

Londis is to create 600 jobs in Ireland after revealing plans to open a further 30 stores in the next 12 months.

A range of household bills can now be paid at retail outlets throughout Ireland with PostPoint, An Post’s shop based electronic payment service network.