British Ceramic Tile in Heathfield appointed administrators today blaming challenging trading conditions and the loss of a key customer in recent days.The closure of the business has resulted in 313 redundancies. The remaining 67 employees will ...

According to the latest figures from the Bank of England, mortgage market activity has been “broadly stable since 2016”, with the trend continuing, despite Brexit woes and weak consumer confidence.As a result, households borrowed £4.1billion secured ...

The value retailer has announced plans to have all of its cargo come into the Port of Liverpool in a permanent move, following frustrations with delays at southern ports.B&M has already run a trial through the port, and has taken the decision to ...

Hillier has announced a new charity partnership for 2019-20 with national cancer support charity, Maggie’s. Through the partnership, Hillier hopes to raise funds, give direct support to Maggie’s Centres and help bring Maggie’s to the South of ...

The privately-owned business, which offers wall and floor tiles for both wholesale and retail, has opened its latest store off Garsington Road, Cowley, OxfordThe new 4,000sq ft tile showroom, takes the company portfolio to 10 branches and is part ...

B&Q has reportedly given up information on around 70,000 shoplifters on Elasticsearch, according to Australian security researcher Lee Johnstone.The exposed data included the names of thieves, along with the product codes of the things they had ...

The value home and garden retailer has signed a lease for a new store at the Putney Exchange Shopping Centre in southwest London.The new 8,000 sq ft store is expected to open in April and will generate more than 40 new jobs within the local area. ...

Marks & Spencer is taking action to prevent plastic waste from going to landfill with the launch of a new initiative, which will enable customers to bring back non-recyclable plastic packaging and see it transformed into shop fittings and ...

The latest HTA Market Update reveals that garden centre sales were up 3% across the whole of 2018 compared with 2017. Houseplants continue to increase in popularity, with sales of this category up by 15% year on year. Christmas categories also saw ...

Sales in outdoor plants continued to dominate other categories for a third month running in December (2018) according to the Garden Centre Association’s (GCA) Barometer of Trade (BoT) report.Sales were up 17.73% compared to the previous year in 2017,...

Exhibitors at the UK home and gift marketplace are ramping up efforts to champion their private label ranges, which organisers believes is as a reflection of the significant growth in the own-label proposition across the UK retail industry.ITE Group ...

Total sales for the week across the department store chain were down 3.5% on the same trading period last year, with home one of the worst performers.John Lewis attributed the decline to tough comparatives, against strong clearance sales during the ...

This April is National Home Improvement Month an awareness campaign organised by the British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA) to encourage home owners and renters to improve one area of their home during the month of April 2019.National ...

On Sunday 12th May 2019, a community benefit project will be launching across the UK. At the peak of the horticultural season, Garden Day is aimed at encouraging people to spend the day celebrating their gardens with friends, family and neighbours. ...

In a bid to increase brand awareness and create greater differentiation in the home improvement market, the DK Tools brand has invested in a brand new television advertising campaign, set to hit screens tomorrow.The ad, which makes its debut on ...

Another successful Garden Centre Association (GCA) conference and awards dinner saw staff from garden centres across the country celebrating, as they were named best in class and recognised for stand-out customer service, catering excellence, and ...

The department store chain today announced plans to close Knight & Lee & Partners in Southsea this summer. The 35,000 sq ft outlet is the smallest full line shop in John Lewis’ estate but its closure in July still puts 127 jobs at risk.The ...

Kingfisher, the international home improvement company, has today announced it will phase out three chemical groups from its own branded products by 2025, with an ambition to extend this to the rest of its supply chain. The move is part of the ...

Squire’s Garden Centres has continued the roll-out of new-look Café Bars across its estate, with its centre in West Horsley the latest to benefit from an refurbishment, and the café now boasting a stylish new look, décor and furniture..As part of ...

The greenhouse manufacturer launched its latest product via a roadshow to 50 of its key customers, resulting in 45 orders for a display model ready to start stocking the new line; the first new launch under the Halls brand in around 40 years.Plans ...

Covers Timber & Builders’ Merchants has announced it will sponsor the 2019 Sussex Heritage Awards. This will be the fourth consecutive year the company has supported the prestigious event. Organised by the Sussex Heritage Trust, the awards aim ...

BHETA’s quarterly retail data service now features live links to all the product groups represented in the four categories detailed in BHETA’s online Retailer Zone. This latest refinement to BHETA’s quarterly presentation of GfK’s most recent EPOS ...

Independent retail wholesaler groups and the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) are putting their weight behind April’s consumer awareness campaign, National Home Improvement Month.The campaign is the initiative of the British Home Enhancement ...

The garden centre business has brought in Yorkshire contractors to start work on the first phase of a £4million project to develop its Bradford site.Tong Garden Centre has contracted Leeds-based firm, Jennings to do the demolition work, whilst East ...

Akzo Nobel today announced details of the capital repayment and share consolidation approved by shareholders when it voted in favour of all resolutions at the company's Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) last November, following the sale of its ...

Family run DIY store, Broad Street DIY, in Worcestershire proudly celebrated its 40th business anniversary early January 2019. Broad Street DIY, in Bromsgrove, was opened by Tony and Linda Warren on 8 January 1979. The business has grown ...

Construction Materials Online (CMO) reported sales of £38.6million in 2018. The business has seen rapid growth, having doubled in size since 2016.CMO supplies a range of over 70,000 construction materials to DIY and the trade. The firm received an ...

The homeware retailer has announced a list of 17 outlets earmarked for closure. The move forms part of its five-year plan to shut more than 100 stores and have one third of sales online by 2022.The latest round of closures affect 1,045 jobs, with ...

The deadline for entries to the 2019 DIY Week Awards is fast approaching, with supplier and retailer submissions to be completed online by the end of Friday, January 18.With just days left, don’t miss your chance to be in the running for a DIY Week ...

Grafton Group plc, the international builders merchanting and DIY Group, has issued its trading update for the year ended 31 December 2018 in advance of the announcement of its Final Results for 2018 on 28 February 2019.Group revenue for 2018 was £2....

The high street chain saw a 1.1% like-for-like uplift in the six weeks to December 24 – the lowest growth of all of the brands in the Theo Paphitis Retail Group. The trading update follows a year of positive trading for Dyas but profits took a hit ...

The garden and homeware brand has announced the launch of its new website, where consumers can easily browse and purchase items from the range.The website has been transformed to help consumers navigate more easily and explore the collection, which ...

Following ProCook’s acquisition of the Steamer Trading business, saving the retailer from administration, it has been revealed that 27 stores will join the new owner’s portfolio, whilst 10 face immediate closure.The sale of the business was ...

Cookware and kitchen retailer ProCook has announced the purchase of Steamer Trading after the independent specialist kitchenware chain appointed administrators yesterday. The deal saves 27 of the retailer’s 38 stores and includes the e-commerce ...

UK variety goods value retailer, B&M European Value Retail S.A., has today announced a trading update for the third quarter of its current financial year, relating to the 13 week period from 30 September 2018 to 29 December 2018.This saw Group ...

In the core Tesco UK business, third quarter like-for-like sales increased by 0.7%, representing the company's twelfth consecutive quarter of growth. In a more challenging market, Tesco said it made significant further improvements to its customer ...

Total retail sales from J Sainsbury plc have been reported as down by 0.4%, and like-for-like sales decreasing by 1.1%. General Merchandise sales, which includes Argos, declined by 2.3%.The supermarket chain took over catalogue retailer Argos as ...

Tile specialist, Topps Tiles Plc has announced a trading update for the 13 week period ended 29 December 2018, with like-for-like revenues for the first 13 weeks of the current financial year decreased by 1.4%, when in 2018 revenue had increased by ...

Plans have been put in place to redevelop the Newport Football Club site on St George’s Way by the current football ground owners. The mixed development of the site will see both retail opportunities and leisure uses.The development will be made up ...

The line-up of judges for the supplier and retailer categories has been revealed, with key representatives from across the home improvement and garden industry set to take part in choosing the 2019 DIY Week Award winners.Each year, two independent ...

The British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA) has purchased the two minority shareholdings in Brooke House Exhibitions, the owner of the Exclusively Housewares and Exclusively Electrical shows, from Simon Boyd and Christopher Leonard-Morgan....

Online bathroom products retailer, Online Home Retail Limited, has just completed a successful management buyout (MBO). A team led by an original founder of the business, James Hickman, bought back the company, which trades as www.plumbworld.co.uk, ...

The specialist hand and power tool wholesaler announced, this month, it has been appointed as the exclusive distributor for US brand, ToughBuilt, in the UK and Ireland.The offer from the Las Vegas-based manufacturer includes saw horses and jobsite ...

UK homewares retailer Dunelm Group plc has reported its total LFL revenue growth for its second quarter was +9.0%, a pleasing result the company says, which builds upon the positive trading experienced in the first quarter.Like-for-like store ...

Picton Property Income has completed an agreement to Lease with Lidl on its former Homebase unit at Parc Tawe North, Swansea. It will move Lidl from its existing premises on the retail park, making it the anchor occupier, alongside JD Sports, Pets ...

The number of shoppers out on December 26 this year fell by 3.1% and is the third consecutive year that has seen a decline, which could indicate a lessening in importance of Boxing Day as a trading day - but not all retailers had a quiet day...

Wholesale supplier T.I. Midwood & Co, has become the UK’s exclusive supplier to merchants and retailers for Australian company Fantom Hardware, creator of the award-winning Fantom Doorstop....

The BRC-Nielsen shop price index for the final month of 2018 recorded the lowest rate of deflation of non-food goods since March 2013, despite deep discounting in several sectors. The reporting period covered 3-7 December.Non-food prices stabilised ...

Despite announcing plans to close all of its physical outlets acrosss the UK and Germany with a view to focusing on an online-only strategy, the Swedish retailer has made an about-turn and revealed it plan to keep trading from its Reading store on ...

Pantone has announced its colour of the year for 2019 as 'Living Coral'. Vibrant, yet mellow, the company has said, PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral "embraces us with warmth and nourishment to provide comfort and buoyancy in our continually shifting ...

In December it was announced that Peckish will be sponsoring the Channel 4 Weather bulletins, as part of wider plans to boost brand awareness and the wild bird card market.The “Love Every Bird” campaign, which it is hoped will expose the Peckish ...

Homebase, one of the UK’s leading home improvement and garden retailers, has signed a concession partnership with UK bed brand, Silentnight.The partnership marks the first step in Homebase’s return into beds and mattresses, and will see several ...

The 40-strong garden centre chain posted total sales of £24.1million for the last six weeks of the year, with footfall up across its centres, and a number of categories delivering record performances.Like-for-like sales were up 8% year on year (YOY),...

National Home Improvement Month has announced it has recruited BBC presenter, DIY enthusiast and property developer Georgina Burnett to be an official ambassador for the National Home Improvement Month challenge commencing this April. Georgina has ...

The Federation of British Hand Tool Manufacturers (FBHTM) has announced that it has joined The British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA) as of January 1st 2019.FBHTM will remain as a separate entity under the leadership the current ...

The bathroom retailer’s ‘April Showers’ campaign was deemed to have breached CAP code rules, with it unclear as to whether discounts promised were genuine.The ads in question referred to banners that detailed the retailer’s April Showers promotion, ...

2019 has been reported as the year greenhouses and glasshouses will be just as likely to be used for parties and entertaining as younger families admit they see them, not just as a route to healthier and eco-friendly living, but as luxury lifestyle ...

Attendees to the Garden Centre Association (GCA) annual conference, to be held on January 20 until 23, 2019, will be able to hear from former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen.Kevin will be a guest speaker at the conference, which takes place at ...