DIY WEEK AWARDS 2024 AWARDS 2024 DIY Meet the Judges WEEK


As excitement builds for this year’s DIY Week Awards taking place at the Grand Connaught Rooms, Covent Garden in London on Friday 17th May, the entries are coming in and our panel of expert judges are preparing to evaluate them and draw up the shortlist of potential winners. We’ll be publishing more details in the next issue, but for now here’s your chance to find out more about the people making the all-important decisions…


RETAILER JUDGES


PAUL BAGNALL Former Channel Manager, Henkel Consumer Adhesives


Paul, now retired after 36 years in the industry, has gained a wealth of experience and knowledge in both Sales and Marketing. He joined Loctite in 1984 and then worked until retirement for Henkel who bought Loctite in 1997.


In 2010 he became a Category Manager working with both sales and brand marketing as a team to leverage to the full Henkel’s fantastic leading brands. He also worked closely with DIY Week, delivering the ‘Hand it Over to Henkel’ series of 19 articles showing how effective category marketing techniques can be for small retailers not just the large nationals. So we are really glad to have him with his experience on board both the Retailer and Supplier judging panels.


ANDREW MARLEY Managing Director, Benchmark Retail Services


Andrew started with Benchmark in 2002, covering territories in the Leeds / Manchester area and then the South East. Moving into an account management role in 2006 and appointed to the board of directors in 2011. Andrew took full ownership of Benchmark in May 2021. Benchmark Retail Services is a multi-faceted service provider. Andrew and his highly skilled team work closely with their stores to ensure your products, marketing messages and engagement with retail chains reflects your business and most importantly, drives your product sales.


RICKY JOHAL Head of Marketing, Communications and Brand, DK Tools


After studying fine art, design and photography, Ricky started his working life at Home Retail Group - during the acquisition of Argos and Homebase. He later went on to forge a successful marketing career in various sectors, where he worked with leading brands, such as Morrisons Supermarkets, Sky, Fitbit and Canon. At Canon, Ricky was responsible for retail campaigns and the instore brand experience across Europe, Middle East and Africa, as well as Russia. He now leads an agile team of in-house specialists, who work on all Amtech related touchpoints, including packaging, advertising, ecommerce and video, as well as trade and digital marketing.


NEIL MEAD Editorial Director, DIY Week


Neil has over 25 years’ experience in the publishing industry and currently manages the editorial content of DIY Week and Garden Centre Update magazines, websites and associated social media channels. Having previously edited consumer magazines on hobby woodworking and home improvements, as well as a number of trade titles covering a wide range of other industry and retail sectors, Neil is able to offer his opinion and judge the awards’ entries from a wide perspective and chairs both the Retail and Supplier judging panels.


JEFF MOODY Managing Director, British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA)


Jeff has worked in the retail sector for 25 years and is passionate about SMEs and their role within the community and the UK. He is commercial director of BIRA Direct and chairs the BRC Payments Advisory Group and plays an active role championing the SME sector in the retail payments area to promote awareness and adoption of the new payments landscape.


www.diyweek.net


Details correct at time of going to press. For more information about the DIY Week Awards 2024, including the categories, how to enter and confirmed judges, please visit the Award’s website at www.diyweekawards.co.uk


FEBRUARY 2024 DIY WEEK 9 Sponsored by


Paul forged a very successful career in sales, working with both multiples and independent retailers, across major retail and wholesale channels, including DIY, Grocery and Stationery. He won a National Sales Award for Top Professional: FMCG, up against other candidates from major FMCG food brands.


SUPPLIER JUDGES


PAUL ANDREWS DIY Product Manager, Home Hardware Southwest


Currently DIY Product Manager for Home Hardware Southwest, Paul has worked for Home Hardware for more than 30 years, buying across various sectors, including gardening, housewares, heating, leisure and cookware. For the past 10 years he has looked after and grown Home Hardware’s extensive DIY offering.


PAUL BAGNALL Former Channel Manager, Henkel Consumer Adhesives


LEE MARTIN DIY Sector Manager, The British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA)


A well-known industry figure with a substantial career history in both the DIY and builders merchant sectors, Lee has worked in trade and retail sales director and manager roles in FMCG, technical and industrial environments from Oakey, Stanley, and Tetrosyl, through to Castolin Eutechtic. Dealing with national multiple retailers such as B&Q, The Range, Wickes-Travis Perkins, Homebase, and Toolbank, Lee also has experience of global organisations including Tarmac-Lafarge, Bostik, and Evo-Stik Mapei International.


KATE MURPHY Managing Director, Brookes & Co


As Managing Director of PR and marketing agency, Brookes & Co, which specialises in DIY, garden and housewares Kate has been writing about home and garden improvement products for years for both trade and consumer media – traditional, web and social. Kate has always loved creating content and even when she’s not working prefers writing to reading and watching. Apart from writing, Kate has become fascinated by marketing strategy; how brands can best get to market and why consumers, influencers and retail channel opinion formers should be interested when they get there. Kate believes the DIY Week Awards are a great forum for the sort of innovation which invigorates the market. And in these changing times, that’s more important than ever.


PAUL WARREN Owner, Broad Street DIY


Paul has grown up in the DIY industry and now heads up the family business, Broad Street DIY, which was started by his parents nearly 40 years ago. The forward-thinking business has secured a number of awards in recent years, including being named DIY Week’s Retailer of the Year in 2017, thanks to fantastic initiatives like its DIY Clinics and DIY Ladies’ Nights.


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