NEWS NEWS IN BRIEF
Home security experts, ERA, recently welcomed Secretary of State for Defence and MP for South Staffordshire, the Rt Hon Gavin Williamson to its brand-new premises at the prestigious i54 business park just outside of Wolverhampton. Mr Williamson saw ERA’s complete range of high quality security products, including a demonstration of its new barricade device, LockDown. Josie Bryant, age 6, from The Russell School has won Squire’s Garden Centres competition to design a flowerbed at Teddington Lock. Josie is the youngest ever winner of this annual competition in which local school children are invited to design a planting scheme for a flowerbed at the Environment Agency’s lock on the River Thames in Teddington. The Garden Centre Association (GCA) is set to host the International Garden Centre Association congress for the first time in 10 years, with garden retailers from across the globe to attend the 20119
event.The GCA is expecting 250 delegates from garden centres from all over the world to join it in Windsor for the event on Sunday, September 1 until Saturday, September 7, 2019. The winners of the GIMA awards 2018 were announced at the Celtic Manor Resort, Newport, in South Wales. The pinnacle of the garden retail industry’s calendar, the event brought together manufacturers, retailers, members of the press and industry figures, to celebrate the 17 highly- deserving winners. This year Neudorff with its VineWeevilFree - Nematodes is the winner of the GIMA Sword of Excellence, whilst Woodlodge won the GCA Supplier of the Year for the first time. Amazon has retained the top spot in the UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI), with John Lewis coming in at number two and as many as eight non-food retailers making up the top 20, including Argos, Wilko, M&S and Pets at Home. It scored 86.7 points (out of 100), making this the sixth consecutive time consumers have rated Amazon number one.
4 DIY WEEK 20 JULY 2018 Akzo Nobel posts loss in Q2
Akzo Nobel has announced its operating income fell 23% to 225 million euros (£199.92 million). However, Decorative Paints’ return on sales up at 12.2% (2017: 11.6%) driven by 5% higher selling prices. The first wave of price increases were successful in Q1 2018, with the company reporting a successful separation of its Speciality Chemicals to The Carlyle group and GIC for €10.1 billion.
In the paints and coating
sector, Akzo has reported in Q2, revenue is 3% lower, although up 2% in constant currencies, with positive price/mix partly offset by lower volumes.
Adjusted operating income at €225 million (2017: €294 million) mainly impacted by €21 million
adverse foreign currencies and €20 million non-recurring items. Operating income includes the adverse impact of identified items of €33 million, mainly related to the transformation. Return on sales at 9.2% (2017: 11.6%), up for Paints and improving for Coatings;
return on investment at 12.2% (2017: 14.4%)
Net income from total operations at €271 million (2017: €301 million), including discontinued operations at €164 million (2017: €134 million). AkzoNobel CEO, Thierry Vanlancker, commented:
B&M posts 8.3% sales jump in Q1
is still on track for a gross total of 50 new B&M stores in the UK this year, with four outlets opening in Q1 and the rest of the store-opening programme weighted more towards the second half.
B&M chief executive Simon
Discount retail chain reported its best-ever first quarter early summer trading season, with record sales from garden and outdoor leisure ranges and like-for-like sales up 1.6% across the UK business. The strong start to the year, B&M believes, highlights that its “disruptive value model continues to prove highly attractive to customers”. The business, which also operates the non-food
retail chain Jawoll in Germany, as well as Heron Foods in the UK, reported a 21.3% growth in revenue across the group. Its B&M UK business
saw revenue grow 8.3% to £648.3million between April 1 and June 30, with LFL growth of +1.6% and +3.6% on an underlying basis, excluding the non-comparable Easter week in the previous year. The 578-strong chain said it
Arora said of B&M’s results: “The business has performed strongly in the quarter, despite demanding comparables of +7% LFL’s in the previous year and a sluggish market environment. “Our competitively-priced ranges for garden and outdoor Leisure have been very well received and they are achieving great rates of sell-through. “We have enjoyed record sales in these seasonal product categories, which is a testament to the appeal of our highly disruptive business model. I would like to thank all our colleagues for their hard work and success in delivering B&M’s best-ever Q1 early summer trading season.”
Bradfords Building Supplies posts 19% sales jump
Bradfords Building Supplies (BBS) has reported a 19% year-on-year increase in total sales for 2017/18. The business continues to expand and now operates 42 builders merchants, 23 YPS plumbing branches, 23 tool hire branches and nine kitchen and bathroom showrooms. More acquisitions and green field sites are planned for this year, including a relocation of the well- established Sherborne store to a purpose-built 2.5acre site. Last year saw a drive by family-run BBS to become “the easiest merchant to do business with”, with the firm focusing on
road. Its partnership team, which works with housing associations and service providers, is also growing, says the company. Sales have no doubt benefitted
recruiting new branch managers and removing what it described as “unnecessary process and procedure” to allow the teams in its branches to focus more on customers.
BBS has also been investing heavily in its sales operations and now boasts three sales offices and more than 20 sales people on the
from the strong performance of BBS’s consumer retail website and the business has plans to launch its trade website in September. The new trade site will allow customers to order deliveries and make click & collect purchases, as well as see invoices, proof of delivery and pay their invoices. BSS managing director David
Young: “We are excited about the year ahead – our customer base is busy and market uncertainties are not slowing them down.”
“Disciplined execution on the first phase of our transformation into a focused Paints and Coatings company is creating a fit-for-purpose organization and delivering cost savings.
“Revenue in constant
currencies increased in all Performance Coatings segments except Marine and Protective Coatings. Decorative Paints delivered a particularly strong performance with pricing initiatives and cost savings compensating for higher raw material costs. “We continued investing in our market leading positions, including the acquisition of the Fabryo decorative paints business in Romania and the opening of a new powder coatings plant in Changzhou, China.”
Valspar partners with B&Q and Screwfix to offer exclusive trade paint range
Valspar Trade has announced it is launching a range of new trade products aimed at professional decorators with the two major retailers nationwide.
The Sherwin-Williams-owned brand has a long-standing exclusive relationship with B&Q, since it was positioned as one of the retailer’s flagship paint brands back in 2012 and it will now roll-out its Trade ranges to Screwfix and B&Q stores across the UK.
Exclusive to B&Q is the new
V alspar T rade solvent- based trim paint, which will be available in eggshell, high gloss and satin, in one-litre and 2.5-litre sizes. Valspar Trade contract matt is newly available in Screwfix branches in 10-litre tubs of white and magnolia, and the brand will launch a water-based trim paint in the chain September 2018, which will be available in high gloss, eggshell and satin in one- litre, 2.5-litre and five-litre sizes. Speaking about the launch,
Valspar Trade brand manager Pippa Scurlock-Davies said: “We have built a strong reputation for providing the UK’s largest range of over 2.2 million colours, and our unbeatable colour matching service helps give customers the freedom to be creative.
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