DIY group Focus Wickes has unveiled plans to float this summer.

The move would leave its chairman, Bill Archer, sitting on a near £300m fortune.

The Crewe operation plans to join the Stock Market by September, and could be valued at more than £1.5bn.

The group joins music retailer HMV, pubs group Punch, and oil and gas services firm Wood Group, which have all announced plans to list on the stock markets in recent weeks, reflecting the current hunger for new share issues in the City.

A Focus spokesman said: "We are looking to float now as we have successfully completed the integration of the new group."

Focus is the second largest DIY retailer in the UK with more than 400 stores after a dramatic expansion programme in the past four years.

The group bought Do It All in 1998 and then snapped up Wickes and Great Mills within the space of four months two years ago.

The business, 55 per cent owned by private equity group Duke Street Capital, had sales of £1.46bn last year with operating profits of £106m.

Goldman Sachs and ING Barings are advising Focus and the group wants to list on the stock market by September.

The boom in the retail sector may, however, see the plans brought forward with shares likely to be restricted to institutional investors.

Analysts believe Focus will float for between £1.2bn and £1.5bn, a listing which will leave Mr Archer with a potential fortune of £300m.

He founded the business 14 years ago when he bought the Choice chain of DIY shops and still holds a 20 per cent stake.

He was recently placed 111th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2002 on the basis of his shareholding in the group.

While the flotation would give Focus more cash for its war chest, it also plans to step up its organic growth plans.

The management wants to open ten Focus sites and five Wickes outlets a year over the next three years.

The timing of the announcement means Focus should hit the stock market ahead of its DIY rival, Homebase.

Homebase's owner, the private equity group Permira, is understood to have appointed advisors last week ahead of a £1bn float.