Independent auditors’ report to the members of Home Retail Group plc – Parent

We have audited the Parent Company financial statements of Home Retail Group plc for the 52 weeks ended 28 February 2009 which comprise the Parent Company balance sheet and the related notes. These Parent Company financial statements have been prepared under the accounting policies set out therein. We have also audited the information in the directors’ remuneration report that is described as having been audited.

We have reported separately on the Group financial statements of Home Retail Group plc for the 52 weeks ended 28 February 2009.

Respective responsibilities of directors and auditors

The directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report, the directors’ remuneration report and the Parent Company financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) are set out in the statement of directors’ responsibilities.

Our responsibility is to audit the Parent Company financial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland). This report, including the opinion, has been prepared for and only for the Company’s members as a body in accordance with Section 235 of the Companies Act 1985 and for no other purpose. We do not, in giving this opinion, accept or assume responsibility for any other purpose or to any other person to whom this report is shown or into whose hands it may come save where expressly agreed by our prior consent in writing.

We report to you our opinion as to whether the Parent Company financial statements give a true and fair view and whether the Parent Company financial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited have been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985. We also report to you whether in our opinion the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with the Parent Company financial statements. The information given in the directors’ report includes that specific information that is cross referred from the principal activities and business review section of the directors’ report.

In addition we report to you if, in our opinion, the Company has not kept proper accounting records, if we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit, or if information specified by law regarding directors’ remuneration and other transactions is not disclosed.

We read other information contained in the annual report and consider whether it is consistent with the audited Parent Company financial statements. The other information comprises only the chairman’s statement, the business review, the Board of Directors, the directors’ report which incorporates the corporate governance statement, the unaudited part of the directors’ remuneration report and the Group four-year summary. We consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the Parent Company financial statements. Our responsibilities do not extend to any other information.

Basis of audit opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland) issued by the Auditing Practices Board. An audit includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the Parent Company financial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited. It also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgments made by the directors in the preparation of the Parent Company financial statements, and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the Company’s circumstances, consistently applied and adequately disclosed.

We planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which we considered necessary in order to provide us with sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the Parent Company financial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or other irregularity or error. In forming our opinion we also evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the Parent Company financial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited.

Opinion

In our opinion:

• the Parent Company financial statements give a true and fair view, in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice, of the state of the Company’s affairs as at 28 February 2009;
• the Parent Company financial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited have been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985; and
• the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with the Parent Company financial statements.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
London
29 April 2009