RETAILING REPORT: SCREWFIX LIVE
Britain’s Top Tradesperson ‘Special Innovation Award’ winner, Christina Valentine (centre), pictured with article authors, Kerry and Clive Daley
understand what their suppliers felt about them and their business, in fact there were over 150 suppliers in attendance. We heard that the senior management and many colleagues met with the suppliers the night before at the ‘Product of the Year Awards’ to speak with them face- to-face. Screwfix does seem to stand out from the crowd of retailers in this sector as one which embraces the power of strong relationships, although we accept that the Kingfisher unification has made this more difficult during the past few years. Nevertheless, at this event the Screwfix team was accessible and active around the floor. We spent some time with John Mewett, CEO of Screwfix, and he reflected on the event, which is in its seventh year. He said: “The Screwfix Live event is an amazing platform which is unique in that it pulls together customers and suppliers and gives myself and my Screwfix colleagues a chance to informally chat with everyone here. It allows us to get feedback on how we are doing and gather insight into how we can further develop our relationship with our customers and suppliers? Mewett is passionate about his business and even more about his team, he went on to say: “There is real magic in seeing a Screwfix colleague demonstrating a product to a customer with the supplier watching on and both getting insights and comments directly from the customer.” Where
else can you see this
happen? We challenge you to find similar events such as this.
What the suppliers said In an industry that has lost many of its events, and some of the remaining ones seem to have lost their appeal, the Screwfix Live event scored highly with the suppliers we spoke to. Simon Spain, head of sales at Aqualux, commented: “It’s fantastic, it gives us a chance to speak to the end user and for me that’s the best bit. Not only do we get feedback on product, but we get great access to the Screwfix senior management and that is not easy to achieve normally.” Jason Smith, chief commercial
officer at Bristan, having prized him away from demonstrating a new hot and cold water
system to a
consumer, said: “You get a constant flow of people, it is very engaging and allows you to take on board their comments both the positive and negative feedback.” Emma Anders, director of retail and consumer sales for Bristan agreed and confirmed that they had changed their stand from last year based on visitor feedback.
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Screwfix Live provided suppliers and the trade with an opportunity to meet customers and get their direct feedback, while offering them a wide range of products, live demos and special offers
Will Timmis,
ecommerce
and
national accounts manager for Mountfield was very thankful for the event, he said: “We support this event to show our support and thanks for the Screwfix business, it is a great opportunity to get feedback and see how customers feel about existing products and the new additions to the range… invaluable!” Nigel Fisher, MD of Yale, cut to the chase and simply said: “Improvements all around this year. Great event!”
Recognising great work Pushing others forward and recognising great work is key to successful business. The impact that you give to others with sometimes just a small gesture, can be hugely powerful.
That’s why we loved the section ‘Britain’s Top Trade Person’, where we saw Darren McGhee of DMG Roofing win with his amazing Roofcare package. He is not just fixing roofs, he is helping prevent rogue traders take advantage of consumers, and he is creating jobs. Well done to him! Christina Valentine won the ‘Special Innovation Award’ and secured investment to help her move forward with her patented safety ladder. This is not just any ladder, she is stopping injury and saving lives. Product of the year awards went to BG 13A 2G DP Switched Socket, Flomasta Bottom Entry Brass Shank Fill Valve, No Nonsense Decorators Caulk,
DeWalt Safety Boots,
Milwaukee M18 Brushless Combi Drill, Milwaukee PZ2 Shockwave Driver Bits and DeWalt 18V XR Brushless Combi Drill.
Kingfisher’s view There has been a lot of talk in the business world of why the new CEO of Kingfisher visited Screwfix on his first day, but it’s not rocket science really when you consider it is the best performing part of the UK business and has been consistently for many years now. The company
has embraced the omnichannel consumer more than most retailers and brought that to the trade sector, yes we think we would visit them first too. We managed to chat to Darren Morris,
Kingfisher group range
director and he commented: “This event shows how important the Screwfix brand is to the group. The Screwfix brand has an amazing value and they are so focused on their customer. It’s Friday and the place is packed, you can hardly move. Every year it’s taken to a new level and we are proud it is part of the group.”
Daley Hub and industry view There is a fair amount of uncertainty with the Kingfisher Group, and especially with the part that Screwfix plays in it, but for now let’s just comment that Screwfix is an essential part of the group that continues to deliver positive sales. Many will challenge that the unification strategy does not work well for Screwfix, but we can see benefits around the group from brands Screwfix has developed, such as Erbauer, that we hear is working well across the
group. There are other retailers, such as Toolstation, which are hot on the heels of Screwfix, acting as a challenger brand to them and with an experienced management team they will keep the pressure on. For us, Screwfix is one of our favourites, we love retailers who make their senior team accessible and engage with end users in the way that Screwfix does through this live event. We do always try to give a balanced view and were looking for areas where we could recommend improvements for the event, but we found it quite hard. So for the 20,000 visitors, 150 suppliers spread across 20,000 square metres, and with 20,000 transactions taking place, this event delivered. It also provided a great industry networking opportunity. We
leave you with a final
thought… we feel Screwfix has definitely delivered on its latest plan “to be successful in this current economic climate, we must prove ourselves to be adaptive, creative and brave enough to enact change when necessary.”
25 OCTOBER 2019 DIY WEEK 11
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