Gerry Murphy should stick with the marathon running: he has a better record of finishing the course.

To be fair, Mr Murphy, as well as being an enviably fit long-distance runner, is a smart, candid businessman. But he never really fitted the mould of a media executive at Carlton and he has failed in his attempt to reinvent himself as a retailer at Kingfisher.

The company’s share price has this year fallen lower than it was five years ago, when Mr Murphy took over the business that was built by Sir Geoff Mulcahy.

Mr Murphy had a great vision for Kingfisher, weaning it off its reliance on B&Q in the UK and building a portfolio of DIY superstore brands around the world.

But, as they say in the trade, retail is detail: Mr Murphy is considered to have been strong at developing a corporate roadmap, less good at walking the aisles.

He liked to blame the swings in interest rates in the wake of September 11 for the problems at the group – and for good reason. B&Q’s business is extremely sensitive to the cost of borrowing: when interest rates rise, the first thing that gets postponed is the refit of the kitchen or the installation of a power shower. But, while Mr Murphy had a keen understanding of the economic theory, shareholders blamed him for not running his business keenly enough to preempt the waxing and waning of demand.

Now, it seems, B&Q in the UK is facing another difficult winter. The company’s statement was not only a personnel announcement, it was a profit warning.

Like-for-like sales are down 2 per cent and, on the back of five consecutive interest rate rises, demand is not about to bounce back. The long-awaited foreign buyer of Kingfisher has slipped even further over the horizon: Home Depot has problems of its own and the dollar makes shopping in London prohibitively expensive right now. Insiders at the company say that Ian Cheshire, who ran international development and is now said to be making progress at B&Q, is the most likely successor.

No doubt Mr Murphy will feel that Mr Cheshire will reap the benefits of his strategy. He successfully streamlined the business and set it on the right international track. But Kingfisher’s problems mean it is likely to have to cut its dividend and must lay out a new path for the business in the UK. No wonder Mr Murphy has had to opt for the open road.

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