STAFF working for Hampshire based DIY giant B&Q are today celebrating a £7.4 million share scheme windfall.

Hundreds of B&Q staff in Hampshire and others at sister company Screwfix stand to make an average gain of £3,516 per person if their cash in their savings.

Kingfisher, the owner of B&Q and Screwfix, said 2,121 of its staff around the country stood to receive a total of £13.8 million from the maturity of three and five-year ShareSave schemes, an estimated gain of £7.4m at yesterday's share prices.

Euan Sutherland, chief executive officer of Kingfisher UK & Ireland, said: “At Kingfisher we believe that the colleagues who contribute to the success of the company should share in the rewards and it's great news for our colleagues at B&Q and Screwfix that they can share in this pre-Christmas windfall.”

In past three years Kingfisher's annual profits have risen from £357 million to £670 million, net debt has fallen by around £1.6 billion and the share price has performed strongly.

The firm said today that B&Q's profits in the third quarter were up 20 per cent to £46m as trading benefited from the closure of Focus DIY and the subsequent conversion of 27 of its stores to the B&Q format.