Industry merchant chain Wolseley has blamed a "weak" UK heating market as it reported a 2.9% fall in its UK revenue.

While Group wide revenue was up 5.2% at £4,369m, the company confirmed it was holding employee consultations as part of its plans to cut 800 staff and shut 80 branches in the UK.

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Wolsey said the repairs, maintenance and improvement markets remained weak in the UK, with trading profit of £17 million being £2m behind last year.

The Group said: "Like-for-like revenue growth since the end of the quarter has been in line with the first quarter results. Markets continue to be mixed across the Group with some uncertainty in the economic outlook.

"We remain confident that Wolseley will make further progress in the year ahead and expect Group trading profit to be in line with analyst expectations at current exchange rates."

(LM/MH)