Although four in 10 shoppers think home improvement stores are aimed at men, British women are the biggest spenders, splashing out over £300 a yearNew research released today by Barclaycard reveals a rise in females doing it for themselves as one in ...

Almost three-quarters (71%) of UK homeowners wouldn’t know where to start if they wanted to complete a bathroom refurbishment, new research has revealed.The survey, completed on 1,100 consumers by DigitalBridge, found that just 5% of people would ...

ERA, the UK’s home security specialist, has teamed up with Safeland, a company that has designed a unique app to help communities feel safer and better protected against crime. Focusing on the idea that crimes may be reduced or prevented if members ...

Bunnings parent Wesfarmers today announced it has agreed to divest the Homebase business to Hilco Capital for just £1, as it said the “risks associated with a turnaround don’t justify the additional investment and management required”.Under the ...

The London-based company FormFormForm Ltd which launched kneadable glue product, Sugru, is set to become a fully-owned subsidiary of German firm, Tesa SE. Thus.Adhesive manufacturer Tesa says the acquisition “strengthens its market position in self-...

Retail sales for April increased by 1.6%, as figures from the Office for National Statistics shows a positive step for UK high streets, after adverse weather conditions and economic difficulties caused a lack of footfall and consumer spending.Month-...

Paul Richards, who sold his Golden Acres business to Wyevale in 2015 before developing the Mappleborough Green Garden Centre brand, has acquired Stansted Stansted Park Garden Centre in Hampshire, as administrators seek buyers for Home & Garden Group’s nine centres...

Online DIY and gardening marketplace Mano Mano has commissioned a new European-wide web series dedicated to championing extreme and inventive DIY projects, with the search launching today, on International DIY Day.The series is on the look-out for ...

Parent company of B&Q and Screwfix, Kingfisher plc, has announced its trading update up to April 30 2018.Quarter 1 LFL sales has been reported as down by 4.0% reflecting, what the company describes as "unusually adverse weather conditions" which ...

Tesco has conducted a detailed review of Tesco Direct, its non-food website, and has concluded that, despite its best efforts, there is no route to profitability for this small, loss-making part of the business.Tesco Direct will cease trading on 9 ...

Kingfisher plc has set out its sustainability targets for the next seven years, the latest stage of its journey to become a net positive business by 2050. The Sustainable Growth Plan contains ambitious goals for Kingfisher’s operations, including a ...

Wyevale Garden Centres (WGC), the UK’s biggest garden centre operator, has been put up for sale by Terra Firma as it seeks to complete a full exit for investors from its third fund, TFCPIII.Christie & Co, the specialist business property advisor,...

Topps Tiles Plc, the UK's tile specialist, announces its interim results for the 26 weeks ended 31 March 2018, reporting first half like-for-like sales growing by 0.6%, reflecting strong trading in Q1 (+3.4%) followed by a more challenging market in ...

Wyevale Nurseries last Wednesday (May 16, 2018) helped to host an event dedicated to good soil management practice.Wyevale Nurseries alongside Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) and ADAS hosted a GREATsoils (Growing Resilient, ...

Carpetright has formally announced the fundraising as part of its restructuring plan to rescue the business.In a statement, Carpetright has said: "The Board of Carpetright is pleased to announce a fully underwritten proposed share issue to raise net ...

Gardening journalists from across Europe visited Squire’s Garden Centre in Twickenham last Wednesday 16th May on a study tour to look at some of the best UK garden centres. Delegates came from many European countries including Germany, France, The ...

Following last month’s listing in the Financial Times as one of the fastest- growing companies in Europe, Smart Garden Products announces it has opened its new 250,000sq ft warehouse in Peterborough.Smart Garden was delighted to be named in the FT ...

The British Home Enhancement Trade Association’s forums this autumn will feature guest speakers from Lakeland and US giant The Home Depot.The Home Depot managing director of European sourcing, Massimiliano Zampella will present at the BHETA forum on ...

Retailers on the high street challenged by “thrifty consumer” and poor weather, as footfall drops 3.3% year on year, compared with 1.6% uplift last AprilThe decline is in line with the three-month average of -3.5 and below the 12-month average of -1....

Despite running the risk of facing penalties, a high percentage of high street retailers still failed mystery shopper tests last year, with homeware and DIY stores said to be the worst culprits, selling knives to four in ten young customers without ...

Wickes has announced it will axe 100 head office jobs from its base in Watford as a cost-saving strategy amongst difficult trading conditions.The retailer said: “In order to continue to drive growth for our business, we have been re-shaping our ...

B&Q has revealed that its new Imara Bizzie Lizzie varieties have become its fastest-selling plants ever, with over one million sold in the last week. To mark the successful re-introduction of the bedding plant, B&Q will make a return to the ...

Almost half of consumers said they would be more inclined to make expensive purchases online if websites were more helpful and contained better in-depth product information, according to new research.The survey of 1,000 shoppers, conducted by full ...

National Children’s Gardening Week 2018 is just around the corner (26 May-3 June) and over 300 garden centres nationwide are joining in with events or the Facebook campaign that’s put fun gardening projects for children in front of nearly half a ...

The best of the home improvement and garden industry gathered at the Park Plaza Victoria Hotel in London on Friday, May 11 to recognise excellence across the breadth of the market, from forward-thinking companies to innovative products and ...

Blue Diamond expands its estate to 21, with the addition of independent Dorset garden centre, Orchard Park, which also has planning consent to triple its current size.The garden centre, which is situated just outside Gillingham in Dorset has been ...

UK security expert ERA has successfully completed the acquisition of Zoo Hardware, a supplier of architectural hardware including handles, knobs, locks and hinges. Based in Carlisle, Zoo has grown rapidly since it was founded in 2010 and today ...

Next plc has reported full price sales for the 14 weeks to Monday 7 May were up by 6% on last year. Sales in its online business were particularly strong and increased by 18.1%, driven by the growth of NEXT branded stock and third party brands on ...

Today is the last day to register for a place at the Global DIY Summit 2018. May 10 is the last day to place a purchase order when you register for the event. After this day it will not be possible to issue any invoice which could be settled by a ...

Celebrity gardeners are backing a national sun protection campaign, using humour to fight melanoma, with four of the biggest names in gardening agreeing to look ‘ridiculous’ to help punch the message home.David Domoney, Adam Frost, Mark Lane and ...

Shop price deflation held at 1.0% in April. Shop Prices have been deflationary for 60 months now and this is the deepest deflation since February 2017.Deflation in Non-Food prices was deeper in April than in March: prices decreased at a rate of 2.2% ...

One of the UK’s leading nurseries has said it will provide a selection of plants to The British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI) for its first ever garden trade stand at The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Malvern Spring Flower Show (May,...

East Anglian value garden centre group, Cherry Lane, has acquired David’s Nurseries in Martin Hussingtree, Worcester.The acquisition of David’s Nurseries on Ash Lane takes place with immediate effect. Cherry Lane is already starting to stock the ...

The discount home and garden retailer is set to open a new 10,000sq ft outlet on the St James Retail Park in Sheffield next month.It will be one of the first retailers to open its doors at the new shopping destination when it launches in June, and ...

New research reveals that 89% of employees admit they would prefer to work for a retailer that was embracing digital technology over one that was stuck in the analogue past. And, email topped the list as the technology they would most like to see introduced ...

Former Garden & Leisure Group director and HTA CEO, Carol Paris has received backing from Puma Investments to develop a group of garden centres in the south of England.Ms Paris has announced the formation of new company, Somerton Ltd, ...

Akzo Nobel has acquired two businesses in the UK to enhance its network of Dulux Decorator Centres and further improve the service and support offered to its trade customers.The deals involve the purchase of Whites Trade Paints, based in South East ...