The owner of a chain of builders' merchants is believed to be moving towards the sale of one of its famous brands.

Travis Perkins, which has businesses across Gloucestershire, is reportedly separating its IT systems from its Wickes DIY business, which also has outlets across the county.

The move is being seen as Travis Perkins running the 'for sale' flag up the pole in an attempt to draw in a buyer for the business.

Newspapers like The Sunday Times speculate Travis Perkins, which also owns Toolstation, could make between £400 and £500 million from any such sale.

Punchline asked Travis Perkins what it thougth of the reports. It said: "As the group stated at its capital markets update in December 2018, we continue to prioritise improving the performance of Wickes to create optionality to maximise value over the medium term."

The business first announced in November last year it was reviewing Wickes as it sought to "maximise" the value of the business.

Operating profits over the last two years at Travis Perkins have fallen by almost a third.

Wickes operating profits fell by 19 per cent during the year to December 31, 2018 while Travis Perkins consumer division also fell by 18.9 per cent.

In May, however, there were positive signs from Wickes which revealed first-quarter sales jumped 10 per cent during the 13 weeks to March 30 and total sales rose 9.4 per cent for the same period.