Homebase is to announce significant job losses on Tuesday as the DIY chain, owned by Home Retail Group, reacts to a sharp decline in sales.

Staff have been told to be at their desks for an announcement on Tuesday morning, which is expected to signal a wave of redundancies. Home Retail, which also operates the Argos catalogue retailer, last month said like-for-like sales were declining by “high single digits” and wrote down the value of Homebase by £550m ($866m).