More than 100 retailer delegates representing around 60 retail business attended the bi-annual Home Hardware convention at Woolacombe Bay, north Devon, on November 19-20.
Together with guests and Home Hardware staff, total attendance was more than 160.Speakers at the convention, which was preceded by a one-day trade show, included four retailer members who described their own businesses.

Debbie Hancox of DIY Supplies Home Hardware in Okehampton described the launch of the Posh Paint online businesses specialising in up-market designer paint ranges, followed by the opening of a second shop under the same name, with an enlarged range of interior design products, and finally followed by the launch of a full interior design service.

Robert Jacques of Priceless Home Hardware in Market Rasen described the revival of the tired hardware business he bought in 2007. As well as joining Home Hardware, he has adopted the SIRCS epos system, and expanded into services like key cutting and paint mixing, as well as adding bottled gas, coal and logs, fishing tackle, and a massively enlarged cookware range.

Alison Serret of Slees Home Hardware in Braunton, Devon, recounted the history of the business - including a bleak period when her father was advised to sell up to survive. He ignored the advice, and steered the company back to financial stability instead. Ms Serrett made a particular point of the quality of the shop's window displays, which have become a competitive arena for herself and others. "You need to get height into a window display," she said. "And when I've done a new window, I watch people - to see whether they stop to look at it."

Slees has also made a successful move into white goods, as has Hawkins Home Hardware of Holbeach in Lincolnshire. The company started in 1953, serving local farmers and smallholders with agricultural ironmongery; at its peak it was selling 400 Merry Tiller cultivators a year. But that business declined with the decline of the small farmer, said Andrew Hawkins, and now Hawkins derives 20% of its sales from white goods, often delivering and installing on the day of sale.

The final retailer speaker, Raj Gadher of Avery Truman Home Hardware in south London, barely mentioned hardware retailing. His topic was his four-and-half day hike to the summit of Kilimanjaro, the result of a conversation in the pub one night along the lines of "If Chris Moyles can do it, I can do it". Not only did he do it, he managed to share the experience with his audience very effectively.