NEWS
Coventry plastics manufacturer prepares to welcome
Lord-Lieutenant
After being honoured with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for
International Trade in
April this year, Whitefurze is gearing up for a summer of celebration.
from selling a small range of plastic
The company has grown consumer products
to a successful and dynamic business with comprehensive ranges covering food storage, food prep, gardening,
general
storage, housewares and pet. Serving both independent and national
accounts since its
opening in 1978, to showcasing outstanding growth
in export
markets over the past three year period, now exporting to 24 countries worldwide.
The winners have been invited to Buckingham Palace
for a
reception this summer, hosted by the Royal Family to mark their achievements. The Lord- Lieutenant will visit the company in September.
Owner and managing director Phillip Lanni commented: “Whilst this has been a very challenging time for all trading companies, Whitefurze has continued to service our customer base both old and new. We are therefore delighted to win this award which recognises both our employees, customers and suppliers without whom this success would not have been possible.”
Online Trading Site
Neartoo.co.uk reaches product milestone
A unique online trading site is celebrating reaching a milestone of having over 50,000 products for sale by independent retailers across the UK.
The
Neartoo.co.uk website was launched to the public in March and has been designed to capture shopping trends and help independent stores recover from the pandemic. The platform already has
hundreds of stores signed up which has allowed them to complement their physical stores but
also offer them a
chance to build and grow their business either by helping them go online for the first time, or to
Screwfix opens 800th store
The 800th store opening confirms Screwfix’s intention to bring its convenience and its extensive product range closer to hard-working tradespeople, both in urban environments and in more rural locations such as Bourton-on-the-Water.
Screwfix has opened its
800th store in Bourton-on- the-Water, Gloucestershire, UK. Earlier this year Screwfix announced its store target of 80 new stores across the UK and the Republic of Ireland, creating more than 800 new jobs by the end of January 2023.
This latest opening marks
a significant milestone for the business, bringing Screwfix closer to its overall target of 1,000 stores across the UK and Republic of Ireland.
6 DIY WEEK JULY 2022
Located in Bourton Industrial Park, Gloucestershire, the new store creates 12 jobs for the local community. To mark this significant milestone, the store was opened with a launch event, with colleagues and senior representatives from Screwfix, including Operations and Property Director, Scott Parsons and Managing Director for UK and Ireland, Max Britten. At the launch, Scott Parsons said: “We know how busy our customers are and how important it is to find a Screwfix store close to site. We’re delighted to open our new store Bourton-on-the-Water today and bring Screwfix even closer to local tradespeople in Gloucestershire.
assist their current online offering by giving them a bigger and broader platform.
For shoppers, it has also allowed them to know they are shopping local as each Neartoo seller has been carefully vetted by the British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) who are behind the website. It also allows them to find out what shops they are ‘near to’ and encourage them to explore more local shops to where they live or are visiting. Jayne Weldon, e-commerce manager for
Neartoo.co.uk said: “We are just thrilled that we now have over 50,000 products available for our shoppers to
browse and buy on our w e b s i t e , which
has
been live for just over four months now. Bira’ s CEO Andrew Goodacre added: “We were conscious that this platform was owned by independents and addressed both societal changes but also gives them access to open up new ways of selling to their customers, and one that is profitable for them. “It’s been so encouraging that we already have so many
MKM King’s Lynn raise thousands for cancer charity
The team at MKM King’s Lynn have raised a whopping £2,233 for the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, as tribute to a former branch customer who died of the disease. The sum was raised via a cake
morning and raffle held at the branch, which saw suppliers to the leading independent builder’s merchant donate a host of top- quality prizes, including
coffee
machines, tablets, and vouchers worth up to £200. Raffle tickets were sold by the branch staff ahead of the cake morning to
customers, family, and the local community. A touching nod was even given to the customer whose memory inspired the fundraising, with his daughter baking the cakes sold at the event.
The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation was founded in 1990 and is dedicated to everyone affected by the disease, raising millions of pounds for essential lung cancer research. Andy Goakes, Branch Director at MKM King’s Lynn, said: “I am so proud of the team here at the branch. What made it such a
success was the way the team totally committed and threw themselves into fundraising and selling raffle tickets. Our customers and suppliers have been so generous, donating prizes, buying cakes and tickets. It has been
fantastic to see and made our fundraising so successful. “MKM is
all about supporting
the local community, so it’s a joy to see the community rally together and support such an amazing cause, not just the staff and customers, but the people of King’s Lynn and our suppliers.” Rachel
Constable, Head
of ESG at MKM, said: “I am enormously proud of our King’s Lynn branch, who have gone above and beyond to give back to their community. Supporting our local communities is central to the values of MKM and to have the people of King’s Lynn respond in such a powerful way is great to see.” • For more information, visit
www.mkm.com.
products on offer and weekly have new stores sign up so we hope to continue with this upward trend over the summer months and make this site successful for our important indies who keep our high streets alive.” • For more details visit www.
neartoo.co.uk
Wickes joins RangeMe on a digital drive to scale product sourcing
Wickes has partnered with RangeMe to product
support buying partnership their teams,
ensuring they have access to the most relevant products their customers demand. This
presents
Wickes with innovation and scale opportunities for sourcing products for their customers. With 232 stores across the UK, Wickes exists
to help customers feel
house proud, and now through RangeMe, their buyers can access the most relevant products their customers demand. RangeMe
first launched in
2014 and is used today by more than 15,000 retail buyers in the U.K., Europe, North America, and APAC region. It has quickly established itself as the industry leader for retail product discovery, sourcing and buying by becoming the world’s largest source of brands and products purchased by retail buyers.
RangeMe helps retailers and buying teams scale product sourcing efforts with streamlined submissions, simplified discovery tools, and the industry standard digital sell sheet. Buyers can filter searches to find brands and products meeting exact sourcing needs, seamless connectivity and collaboration with suppliers, and offering curated collections to help identify and understand category trends and emerging brands. Andrew Cotterill, Director of Strategic Procurement and Responsible Sourcing, at Wickes commented: “Wickes are very excited to begin working with RangeMe to expand our access
to new products and innovation and to streamline the procurement process.”
RangeMe is the global online platform where retailers and suppliers can discover, connect, and grow their business. Suppliers can showcase their range, bring new products to market, increase brand visibility, and grow sales, while retail buyers use RangeMe to discover new products, search trends, and communicate directly with brands. “This partnership forms part of
the Wickes wider digital strategy and we are thrilled to be a part of this journey with such a loved household-name retailer in the U.K. as they transform their product sourcing experience. This is also an extraordinary opportunity for suppliers around the world to connect directly with Wickes buyers and showcase their
products,” said Nicky Jackson, CEO of RangeMe.
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