In December 2014, Véronique Laury took the reins of Kingfisher Plc, Europe’s leading home improvement retailer, after a year of weak sales. So far, she’s had a mixed start. In March, Laury introduced a strategic plan to standardize the company’s businesses across Europe—a decision greeted warmly by analysts. But that same week, the company’s planned acquisition of its French competitor Mr. Bricolage, which was announced last year, disintegrated. The collapse of the deal was an embarrassment for the freshly-minted CEO, who previously ran Kingfisher’s French Castorama business. —Claire Groden
