The PlasticForte brand from manufacturing company Albero Forte is the latest housewares name to join the British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA).

PlasticForte is known for multiple use home organisation products and the range includes garden pots, storage, laundry products, waste disposal, cooking and kitchen goods and pet-related items. Albero Forte is a family business founded in 2012 and based in Alicante, where it designs and manufactures all its products. It is the 27th company to join BHETA over the last eight months.

Marketing manager Steve Richardson commented, “We have seen a significant growth in engagement from members and non-members during the pandemic, which can be attributed to several factors. We have run a huge volume of webinars, addressing the needs and opportunities of supplier companies. Subjects have ranged from retailer networking with leading players such as Homebase, eBay, Mano Mano, Ocado, Blue Diamond, Lakeland and John Lewis to advice from business service providers about everything from online marketing to HR to freight costs to sustainability and packaging legislation. Plus, we’ve seen the successful transition of the popular Meet the Buyer series to a digital format, with events held with Homebase and Ocado and more planned for the autumn.

“The BHETA quarterly market update where we combine exclusive bespoke category level insight from Globaldata, with data from ONS, Google and retailers has also proved hugely popular, containing as it does some £10,000 of data.  And of course, BHETA has been marketing its premier housewares and gift show, Exclusively, to suppliers, so I know BHETA has benefitted from the surge of interest that that is creating.

“Like many companies and organisations, BHETA was concerned as to whether the events of the last fifteen months would adversely affect membership numbers, but the opposite has been the case and levels of engagements are higher than they have ever been.”

For more information about BHETA and its networking and business support opportunities, contact Seema Grantham on 07946 078566.