Essential reading for retailers and suppliers in the home improvement market

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Carpetright announces it will close 92 stores

Carpetright is today announcing a proposal to address its legacy property issues and reduce the size of its UK property estate and rental cost base by the implementation of a company voluntary arrangement (CVA).The directors of the company have ... 
12 April 2018

Fire at Strikes garden centre has "destroyed most of the centre"

A huge fire broke out at Strikes Garden Centre in Stokesley on Friday evening (April 6), causing massive damage to the majority of the centre. Fire crews were called at 21:20 BST on Friday, with eight fire engines and 40 firefighters attending at ... 
9 April 2018

Spring gathering for Independents

The sun shined down on Independent retailers as they came together at Morris Mica in Alcester on Sunday for the first of two Spring Mica Co-operative Meetings.The meetings follow on from well attended visits to two Gold Award winners Halls Mica in ... 
6 April 2018

Gender pay gap in the DIY and Garden industry revealed

Today marks the deadline for businesses to submit a report with their gender pay gap figures, which has since revealed that the average pay gap in the UK is 18.4% in favour of men.The gender pay gap is not the same as having unequal pay, which would ... 
5 April 2018

53% of retailers admit "always on" sales are damaging profits

New research from payments provider Klarna, shows that retailers are under increasing pressure to discount to keep up with competition and rising customer expectations.Discounting is no longer confined to the traditional winter and summer sales, the ... 
5 April 2018

Bunnings Warehouse opens new store in Somerset

Home improvement and garden retailer Bunnings Warehouse officially opened its doors in Frome today (4 April).The new store is 47,000 square feet and offers customers a wide range of global market-leading brands. Other services include everything ... 
4 April 2018

Heavy rain negatively impacted retail footfall for Easter Weekend

According to Springboard, shoppers have still been visiting retail destinations this Easter Weekend, despite rain across much of the UK.While rain impacted the high streets, where footfall was noticeably down (by -9.6% on Friday and by -6.9% on ... 
4 April 2018

Topps Tiles report a 0.6% rise in like-for-like revenue

Tile specialist Topps Tiles Plc, has announced a trading update for the 26 week period ending 31 March 2018. The Board will announce interim results for the period on 22 May 2018.Total revenues for the 26 week period were £109.4 million (2017: £106.... 
4 April 2018

Bunnings' potential plans to exit UK unfold

Bunnings UK and Ireland (BUKI) has reportedly re-thought its $705 million acquisition of Homebase after just two years of its conversion plan as Australian owners, Wesfarmers, look to potentially selling the operation to a UK buyer.The news comes ... 
3 April 2018

BREAKING NEWS: Dunelm introduces DIY offering with Amtech in-store trial

Homeware and furniture retailer, Dunelm Group, has taken the unprecedented step of approaching Amtech, to run a DIY trial in 40 of its stores.Dunelm’s new venture is a game changer for the DIY industry, as the retailer is keen to position itself as ... 
29 March 2018

DIY Week Awards retail finalists announced

Following a successful judging day last week, we can finally reveal the home improvement and garden retailers shortlisted for the 2018 DIY Week Awards.Judges convened on Monday, March 19 week at Toolbank’s new purpose-built site in Wednesbury to ... 
28 March 2018

More supplier finalists revealed

Following news of which innovative products made the shortlist for this year's DIY Week Awards, suppliers in the running for two non-product categories - Digital Investment and Retailer Support Initiative - can now also be revealed. The categories, ... 
28 March 2018

DIY Week Awards: Celebrity host revealed

The DIY Week Awards 2018, taking place on Friday May 11 at the Park Plaza Victoria in London, has announced it will be hosted by major British comedy talent, Marcus Brigstocke.On television Marcus launched The Late Edition, the late night BBC4 ... 
28 March 2018

Gardman puts closure rumours to bed

Garden products firm, Gardman has refuted rumours that it has already or is set to cease trading as a result of a huge blaze at its Daventry warehouse earlier this month.A spokesperson told DIY Week: “Following the fire at our warehouse in Daventry ... 
28 March 2018

QVC Garden Re-Leaf shows raises more than £30k

An impressive £31,800 was raised for Greenfingers during Richard Jackson’s Garden Re-Leaf shows on QVC, thanks to donations from vendors and the support of customers to Greenfingers. The figure takes the total QVC has raised for the charity since ... 
28 March 2018

Wyevale Nurseries has the highest sales week in its history

Members of staff at one of the UK’s leading nurseries are celebrating after announcing its highest sales week (March 12 until 18, 2018) in the company’s history.Wyevale Nurseries in Hereford beat its previous record breaking sales week, which was in ... 
26 March 2018

ONS retail sales figures show the market remains tough for retailers

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) released its retail sales figures for February 2018 yesterday (March 22), it showed the quantity bought in by retail sales increased by 0.8% when compared with the previous month, with increases seen across ... 
23 March 2018

Horticultural action plan launched in Scotland

A Scottish Horticultural Action Plan, highlighting the contribution of parks and gardens to the wider Scottish economy, has been launched. The Plan, which sets out 10 asks of Scottish Government and pledges to support them in achieving these asks. ... 
23 March 2018

Crown Paints announces channel 5 sponsorship

Crown Paints has announced its sponsorship of Channel 5 programming featuring great British stories.Planned and negotiated by Omnicom Media Group’s PHD Manchester and content agency Drum, the sponsorship includes a series of TV idents to align Crown’... 
22 March 2018

Axminster Tools moves up to top 100 retailer list

Axminster Tools & Machinery has recently been listed in the top 100 ecommerce and cross-channel retailers as detailed in the Internet Retailing UK (IRUK) Top 500 report 2018, moving up two levels from the top 250 group where the company was ... 
22 March 2018
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