NEWS


Dunlop hires new area


sales manager


Dunlop, specialist manufacturer of tiling, decorating and flooring products


for the trade,


has hired a new area sales manager (ASM) for the Midlands. Wolverhampton-based Michael Maher joins the company’s sales team and will work with builders’ merchants, decorating supplies centres and tradesmen to help drive sales and increase awareness of the Dunlop and Dunlop Pro Décor brands across the industry. Mr Maher has extensive


field sales experience, having joined from independent boiler manufacturer Ravenheat where he managed relationships with local and national merchants including Travis Perkins, Grafton Group, Plumbase and Selco. Dunlop sales and marketing manager Debi Boulton said: “We’re delighted to welcome Michael to our sales team who has a strong sales background working with large national and independent merchants across the Midlands, Wales and the South West.


“Michael will work to maintain our existing relationships and develop new ones as we look to drive the brand forward and continue the excellent growth we have experienced in the past year.”


ManoMano turns over £3.2m in first eight months of UK trading


New online DIY & Gardening marketplace ManoMano has announced its turnover reached £3.2m in its first eight months in the UK and €90M across Europe.


programme, the company forecasts £10M revenue in


Part of the Google Scale Up the


UK and €250M internationally for 2017. With a global catalogue of one million referenced products, the French group aspires to become the European leader for DIY and gardening products online. Going from a workforce of nine to 100 in three years, ManoMano is reporting impressive figures after its first year of business in the UK. ManoMano launched in the


UK in April 2016 and closed the year with 88 partner sellers in the UK and 185,000 products available online. Comparatively,


B&Q has 40,000 products online and Homebase 50,000. The company was launched in France in 2013 and now operates in six countries across Europe (France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, UK & Germany), with the UK and Germany added to the global portfolio in 2016. The global annual turnover was €90 million with €250 being the projected figure for 2017 end of year. ManoMano’s objective for 2017 is to triple the number of products on site as well as its annual turnover. Within three years of activity in the UK market, ManoMano has projected a €100 million turnover on this market alone by the end of 2019. “The growth of ManoMano demonstrates that people are relying more and more on online purchases”,


sais ManoMano


ManoMano has got its online DIY and Gardening business off to a multimillion pound start in the UK


founders Christian Raisson and Philippe De Chanville. “When we decided to launch this project, e-commerce was already a reality, but we found it was lacking in the DIY sector. We are pleased with the positive performance of the UK, which will act as our test country for innovation solutions.”


Report predicts death of the high st by 2030


An industry report conducted by ParcelHero has predicted that the high street as we know it will be a memory within just 14 years. The report says that between


2020 and 2030 half of the UK’s existing shop premises will have disappeared. It points out that in 1950 there were 600,000 stores in the UK, in 2012 there were 290,000 and just 220,000 are predicted to survive by 2020. With home deliveries increasingly popular, the decade between 2020 and 2030 is predicted to see a further 100,000 stores close as e-commerce thrives. By


2030,


Michael Maher is the new ASM for Dunlop


e-commerce is


expected to account for 40% of all UK retail sales. Supermarket


physical store sales are predicted to decline from 42% to 24% by 2030, which the report says is not enough to remain viable. It warns, “Many well-known store brands will reach tipping point, and will


vanish from


the high street.” As a means of salvaging the high street, the report states that shops must recapture the way they were in years past. “Shopping should become a


GCA welcomes new inspectors


The Garden Centre Association has announced its three new inspectors who will begin visiting member garden centres this spring.


Michael Cole, Gordon Emslie and Hedley Triggs will join current inspector Roger Crookes to complete the team for 2017. GCA chief executive Iain Wylie said: “We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Michael, Gordon and Hedley, who will be joining remaining inspector, Roger Crookes. The three new members will go through a thorough induction process before


www.diyweek.net


the inspection window opens to ensure the consistency of marking that we all expect continues.” Mr


Cole joined Notcutts


Garden Centre in St Albans in January 1978 as a general assistant, working in the planteria. He went on to become centre manager six years later. Mr Emslie’s early career experience was in


retailing. Prior to setting up a consultancy business in 2006 he was a Store Manager, responsible for a team of 650 and sales of £100M per annum, and business coach within Sainsbury’s.


multiple


Most recently Mr Triggs has been the manager at the Blue Diamond Trelawney Garden Centre and prior to this can boast 25 years’ experience at management level within garden centres and for growers or plant suppliers. Prior to Trelawney, he was a manager for Wyevale. Mr Wylie added: “The 2017 inspections for member garden centres


will commence on


Monday, March 20 and centres will be visited until Friday, June 16. The inspection visits are unannounced which enables the inspectors to gain a true picture of the centres.”


New inspector Michael Cole has history with Notcutts


The high street as we know it could become a thing of the past by 2030


more social experience again... Homes must also return to UK high streets to prevent no go areas after 6pm.”


ManoMano will be using the UK as its test space in 2017 for DIY and gardening innovation. Bosses say that given the size of the market in the UK, “it is a key audience on which to test new payment methods, logistical solutions and innovative partnerships with key actors in the DIY market.”


B&Q lorry blocks off Cornish village for 18 hours


A massive B&Q lorry caused chaos in the small village of Pentewan in Cornwall last week as it became wedged in a narrow bend in the road. The driver, who is thought to have been using a paper map for directions rather than satellite navigation equipment, got stuck at around 4.40pm on Thursday. The lorry was wedged for almost 18 hours before it was finally towed away at around 10am the following morning. Although the incident caused “major traffic delays and chaos” in the small town, the local villagers took it in their stride, bringing the driver cups of tea as council contractors tried to find a solution. The driver, who was apparently heading to Swindon, Wiltshire, reportedly took a wrong turn which lead to his unfortunate predicament. The lorry was eventually towed back up the hill. A B&Q spokeperson “We’re


said, sorry for the


inconvenience caused to villagers in Pentewan, caused by one of our lorries taking a wrong turn; we’re pleased it has now been moved.”


3 FEBRUARY 2017 DIY WEEK 3


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16