MELLOR businessman Bill Archer will pocket a paper fortune of almost £300million if his DIY chain floats on the Stock Exchange.

The Focus Wickes Group is expected to seek a stock market listing this week, which would value the business at £1.4billion.

And with Mr Archer holding around 20 per cent of the shares in the company, a successful floatation would net him almost £300million.

Mr Archer, 57, moved into the DIY business 15 years ago when he bought six Choice stores with the help of a £300,000 bank loan.

He created the Focus chain in 1988 and acquired first the Do-it-All chain from Boots and then Wickes last year.

He is already one of Britain's richest men, sitting at 111 in the Sunday Times Rich List with a personal fortune estimated at £300million.

Speculation is mounting in the City that Focus plans to float by September at the latest.

Bankers have valued the business, Britain's second biggest DIY chain, at up to £1.5billion.

Mr Archer, who once harboured ambitions to be a professional footballer, was chairman of Brighton and Hove Albion when the club faced an angry backlash from supporters who picketed his home in Mellor until he stepped down from the board.