NEWS NEWS IN BRIEF


n South West discount retailer, Trago Mills, opened its brand new £65million mega store in Merthyr Tydfil last on Saturday. The store, which opened on April 21, is Trago’s first-ever Welsh location and its first site outside Cornwall and Devon. The company invested more than £65million in the new outlet, which took 18 months to build and comprises 30,250sq m building, with warehousing, support services and administrative offices, together with internal roads and car parking. n Due to the threat of Xylella fastidiosa and the potential devastation it poses to the horticultural industry the HTA has created a 30-day action plan. Through initiatives such as education and sharing best practice, the HTA want to continue to increase awareness of Xylella and help reduce the threat of it being introduced into the United Kingdom. Over the next 30 days, the HTA is increasing its communications to both HTA members and non-members, producing Xylella Guidance Toolkits for business to educate themselves, their staff and consumers. n Construction Materials Online (CMO), the rapidly- expanding online retailer of building materials, has reported record growth, achieving revenues of £27million in the year to December 31, 2017. The figure is an increase of almost 50% since the previous year (2016: £18million) as the firm says “e-commerce continues to win business in the sector from traditional builders merchants and physical stores”. n 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 RHS Malvern Spring Flower Show (May, 2018). Wyevale Nurseries in Hereford will be loaning 22 different plant varieties, including Lomandra ‘White Sands’, Veronica ‘Tissington White’ and Pittosporum ten. ‘Variegata’ to BALI for the show, which will open to the public on May 10.


4 DIY WEEK 11 MAY 2018


Next plc reports rise in sales due to sunny weather boost


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 the UK platform along with continued growth from our overseas business. Retail sales took a hit, with the company reporting a loss of 4.8%. Next said in its report: “Sales in the first quarter were better than


we expected and around £40m ahead of our internal forecast, boosted in recent weeks by unusually warm weather. This sales over-performance adds around £12m to our full year profit and we are therefore increasing our central guidance for Group profit accordingly. “At our results presentation in


March we set out our guidance for the full year. At that time, we anticipated that the sales performance in the first quarter would be flattered by the under- performance of our ranges in the


same period last year, so we did not expect sales for the rest of the year to be as strong as the first


quarter.


We still believe this will be the case.” Full price growth for the retailer is up by 6% and the estimate for the rest of the year is an increase of 1% and the full year a rise of 2.2%.


Next said the estimate for the


Cherry Lane acquires David’s Nurseries in Worcester


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 shelves with its signature great


value ranges


including indoor and outdoor plants, as well as the introduction of new garden furniture and solar lighting lines, Wild Bird Care department and a clothing department featuring big brands at great value prices. The garden centre, now known as David’s Nurseries by Cherry Lane Garden Centres, has transferred all 15 staff over to Cherry Lane, enabling them to remain in their existing roles. QD Group had expanded its portfolio of Cherry Lane Garden Centres with the acquisition


centre for our customers to enjoy. We are looking forward to showing customers our exciting new products and additional departments.”


Chief executive of the QD


of Early Dawn Nurseries near Lowestoft in Suffolk in 2014, and Nottingham Garden centre the year before that. Garden centre manager at


David’s Nurseries, Eddie Reid said: “We are delighted to join the Cherry Lane family. Cherry Lane has a great record in running garden centres and we’re very excited about this transition, which will create an even better


Group which owns Cherry Lane, Nick Rubins said: “The acquisition of David’s Nurseries is another great landmark in the ongoing growth and success of our Cherry Lane Garden Centres. We are a family run business and this is a major purchase for our Group. We are very pleased to welcome the team from David’s Nurseries and are looking forward to sharing with shoppers our great value, excellent


quality and


ever-changing spectacular new deals.”


David’s Nurseries by Cherry Lane Garden Centres is now the 12th garden centre owned by Cherry Lane, the UK’s eighth biggest garden centre group.


April’s fall in prices marks five years of deflation


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% compared to March when prices declined by 1.9%. Chief executive of the British Consortium,


Retail Helen


Dickinson OBE said: “Overall, shop prices continued to fall in April, representing the deepest period of deflation since February last year.


“Non-food prices sunk further into deflation as retailers continue


to respond to the squeeze on households’


discretionary


spending by offering low and falling prices.


“As negotiations on Brexit continue to play out against this backdrop


the importance of


addressing the issue of frictionless movement of goods across


borders is increasing. Retailers must have clarity on this position if they are to continue to provide a wide range of goods for consumers at affordable prices.” Head of retailer and business insight at Nielsen, Mike Watkins commented: “With weak consumer demand, any success in sales performance is coming at the expense of retailer’s margins, with lower prices in non-food and inflation now hovering around 1% in food stores.


Whilst promotional activity continued after Easter, retailers are still keeping prices competitive to tempt shoppers back into store as consumers not yet feeling better off.”


rest of the year looks “overly conservative” however


the


company believes it to be a more realistic approach.


B&Q welcomes EU ban on pesticides


The European Union has voted to bring in a total ban on the outdoor use of three of the world’s most widely- used


insecticides, approved due to


the risk they pose to the bee population.


The ban on neonicotinoids, by


EU member


nations today, is expected to come into force by the end of this year and the chemicals will now only be allowed to be used in closed green houses. Environmental


organisation


Friends of the Earth (FOE) has called the ban a “major victory for science, common sense and our under-threat bees”.


B&Q has also welcomed the decision, which comes as the widespread use of pesticides has been blamed for the plummeting numbers of pollinating insects, including bees, seen in recent years. In 2013 the EU issued a ban on the use of neonicotinoids on flowering crops that attract bees, such as oil seed rape and FOE describes “mounting scientific evidence of the threat these pesticides pose to our bees and other wildlife”. B&Q market director Steve Guy said of the EU’s decision today:


“B&Q was the first


UK retailer to introduce a total ban on plants grown using neonicotinoids, and we absolutely welcome this new EU legislation. Back in 2017 we worked in conjunction with our growers to come up with a plan which saw B&Q become the first major retailer to take this important step. We’ve seen a brilliant response from consumers since we made this announcement – people really seem to understand just how important it is to support bees in their nature habitat.”


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