The Meet the Buyers initiative set up for members by The British Home Enhancement Trade Association is now working with overseas retailers for the first time.
On October 16 and 18, Meet the Buyers events will be taking place in Canada with Canadian retailers Home Hardware and Rona respectively.

Home Hardware is the leading hardware and construction materials retailer in Canada with a co-operative of over 1,000 independent stores. Rona is a major retailer of DIY, home improvement and gardening products with over 700 stores.

On November 28 a similar event will take place in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with more details available from BHETA nearer the time.

Commenting on these latest initiatives, Peter Stone, BHETA's DIY sector director, said: "The North American and Canadian markets offer interesting export opportunities for British companies and we hope to develop a number of similar retail engagement opportunities in these territories for both our DIY and housewares members.

"We also have our first European Meet The Buyers coming up this year with an event planned with Maxeda. Maxeda DIY Group is the market-leading DIY retailer in the Benelux and has four formats with 362 stores, 6,700 employees and over 1m customers per week. This event will involve written pre-selection of potential suppliers followed by individual presentation opportunities for the successful companies at Maxeda's head office near Amsterdam.

"The pre-selection is taking place now and interested members should contact me at BHETA as soon as possible."