NEWS


Wilko launches the UK high-street’s first face mask recycling scheme


NEWS IN BRIEF


n Lords Builders Merchants have accquired the majority shareholding in Condell Ltd. Condells currently operates from two branches – Sutton (South London), Horsham (West Sussex)


and has a


strong on-line presence. The company was founded in 2006 by Ruth Condell & Jim McMeckan. Lords are very pleased that Jim is retaining a share in the company and will be working closely with the exististing LBM management team, to grow Lords business in South London as well as Condell’s presence on-line.


n One of the UK’s leading building insulation manufacturers, YBS Insulation (“YBS”), has received a £250,000 loan to progress its growth plans. YBS secured the finance from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (“MEIF”) East & South East Midlands Debt Finance Fund, managed by Maven Capital Partners (“Maven”). The business, based in Creswell, Derbyshire, will use the funding to invest in new production machinery to increase its output capacity, as well as strengthening its


sales and marketing function.


n Kingspan, the global leader


in advanced


insulation and building envelope solutions, has announced an investment in H2 Green Steel (‘H2GS’), a company pioneering new green production methods for steel manufacturing using hydrogen.


n An online store selling hundreds of


exotic


houseplants has opened its first retail space in response to a growing trend for indoor


gardening across


the UK. Grow Tropicals will specialise in exotic and rare tropical plants and indoor gardening accessories. Its new 3,500 sq ft store and tropical hydroponics nursery in Leeds will opened its doors when lockdown rules were relaxed at the end of March.


4 DIY WEEK APRIL 2021


A sustainable single-use facemask recycling scheme is set to launch in 150 Wilko stores across the country. Customers doing their essential shopping will be able to bring their used disposable masks and safely place them in the collection bins at the front of the stores. A rise in single-use PPE litter due to the pandemic has been a significant area of concern, with serious environmental effects of discarded masks becoming an unforeseen side-effect of Covid- 19.


An estimated 129 billion face masks are used globally every single month. In an effort to reduce the harm caused, the home and garden retailer has teamed up with ReWorked www.reworked. com & Scan2Recycle www. scan2recycle.com - launching an innovative scheme to recycle the single-use facemasks, titled #ReclaimTheMask. Jerome Saint Marc, CEO at wilko, said: “Showing we care isn’t something we just do at wilko, it’s one of our core values. We’re thrilled to partner with ReWorked to be the first on the high street to take positive action, recycling discarded face masks on behalf of our customers. “The scheme is super simple for shoppers to safely recycle a product which is often unavoidably discarded as a result of us all taking steps to protect the health of everyone around us. What’s more, it also means we’re able to help hardworking families, local communities


and other


businesses by turning something that we’re simply throwing away into a useful and sustainable product that can have a genuinely positive impact.”


Warm weather and easing of restrictions drives


footfall up, but Easter hit by cold Monday Footfall across UK retail destinations rose by +8.5% in the first week of April from the week before, but was fuelled primarily by the warm weather at the beginning of the week. The increase in activity in high streets and retail parks was of a similar magnitude (+9% in high streets and +9.7% in retail parks), but the rise of +6.3% in shopping centres was a third lower as shoppers gravitated


to external environments to make the most of the warm and sunny weather. The warmer temperatures in the south of the UK meant that the rise in footfall in Greater London and the South East and South West averaged +10.8% versus an average of +6.7% elsewhere. Having passed the anniversary of Lockdown 1, footfall was +68.1% higher than in the same


week in 2020, but still -57.3% lower than in 2019. Following


the easing of


restrictions people ventured out to larger destinations over the Easter weekend; footfall in market towns - which up to now had been more resilient than larger towns and cities - dropped by -13.6% over the four days versus a rise of +5.8% in Central London and a drop of just -3.5% in regional cities outside of the capital. Diane Wehrle, Insights


Director at Springboard, leading provider of data and intelligence on customer activity in stores and destinations, commented: “With exceptional weather across most of the UK it was not a surprise that footfall rose across all retail destinations from the week before, and with the warmest weather occurring in the south it was unsurprising that this part of the UK that benefitted the most.”


Dulux Decorator Centre partners with Good Guys Decorating to transform even more lives


Dulux Decorator Centre is helping a decorator support more of the most vulnerable members of his community - through a new partnership. Good Guys Decorating, established by Cyle Carth from Wandsworth, South London, has transformed


the lives


of countless families facing hardship - by decorating their homes for free.


These ‘Give Back’ jobs are part of his commitment to help those struggling with poverty or mental illness and now, as part of a new partnership - Dulux


Wren Kitchens crowned Kitchen of the Year 2021 because


A Wren Kitchens design has been crowned Kitchen of the Year 2021 by Britain’s best- selling homes magazine Ideal Home, showcasing the very best in design, materials and craftsmanship.


Judged by a panel of industry experts, the show-stopping Infinity Plus Shaker kitchen has been expertly designed for modern living.


It integrated incorporates


a multi-material island with dedicated seating, colour matched cabinetry and a home office


seamlessly


within the space. The judges were won over by the attention to detail and on-trend use of colour - Jade and Soft Cotton shaker units and white Venice Xena Quartz worktops. The overall effect is a luxury kitchen which is affordable


it is designed,


manufactured and delivered by Wren, exclusively for Wren. Wren Kitchens Showroom Development and Design Director, Darren Watts, said: “We are very proud of our British manufacturing, expert design and product innovation. All of our kitchens are designed, developed and made in the UK to the highest standards. We are committed to UK manufacturing and great British design which means we can create affordable luxury kitchens.”


Decorator Centre is helping him reach even more deserving families, through a range of measures to help support these projects.


of


These include providing free charge


paint from Cyle’s


local Dulux Decorator Centre in Hammersmith, London - bespoke account terms to help him buy the products for his paid jobs cost-effectively, plus providing


Good Guys with


accessory packs to give away to the families after the work has been carried out to help maintain their newly decorated home.


Homebase goes big on going small


Homebase has ramped up the rollout of its small-format stores with the opening of a new high street shop in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey. In a show of its belief in the


future of the British high street, Homebase


has added a


Kitchens by Homebase to an existing Bathstore showroom and taken on neighbouring units which include a DECORATE by Homebase and the retailer’s first small-format Homebase


store,


offering a range of home and garden essentials.


Customers visiting Bathstore and Kitchens by Homebase will be supported by specially trained team members, on hand to turn design ideas into a reality with


technology including 3D visualisation software, taking


the stress out of bathroom and kitchen projects and allowing customers to imagine how it will look in their own homes. Homebase also has three other small-format stores with DECORATE by Homebase stores in Cheadle and Sutton and another dual-branded Kitchens by Homebase and Bathstore in nearby Guildford.


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