NEWS


Kingfisher announces first half year results for 2021


Owner of B&Q and Screwfix, Kingfisher, recently released its half year financial results. Highlights include strong financial performance and improved competitive position in key


management


markets; of


effective product


availability, logistics and inflation pressures; rapid progress made with ‘fixing’ issues from previous years; delivery against ‘Powered by Kingfisher’ strategic priorities ahead of schedule; new longer-term industry trends


share buyback programme, reflecting


strong cash


creating growth opportunities; accelerating


investments for


growth; and £300 million to be returned to shareholders via


generation and confidence in outlook. Group results saw sales up 22.2 per cent, driven by strong demand for home improvement across retail and trade channels. E-commerce sales were up 21 per cent (two-year growth up 216 per cent), driven by continued strong demand, with e-commerce sales accounting for 19 per cent of Group sales. Retail profit was up 45.1 per cent, driven by strong UK & Ireland profit growth and


Home renovation spend rises as homeowners invest in kitchen projects, Houzz survey finds


renovating homeowners, jumped 15 per cent to £11,500 in 2020 compared with £10,000 in 2019. The study also found that the busy renovation market will continue through 2021, with 51 per cent of homeowners planning to renovate this year, up five percentage points since 2019 (46 per cent).


“While the pandemic caused


initial concern for the residential renovation industry, many homeowners finally had the time


Home renovation spend has grown 36 per cent in the last year to a median £15,000, according to the 2021 Houzz & Home survey of more than 3,000 UK respondents. Higher budget projects (with the top 10 per cent of project spend) reached £100,000


or more in 2020.


Investment in kitchen projects, the most popular among


and financial means to


move forward with long awaited projects in the past year,” said Marine Sargsyan, Houzz senior economist. “This pent up demand, along with long-standing market fundamentals empower homeowners to continue investing in their current homes.” While cash remains the form


leading of payment for


home renovations (85 per cent), the share of homeowners opting


Travis Perkins launches data apprenticeships to boost future skills


Travis Perkins plc has launched two new data apprenticeships, including a data fellowship and an advanced data fellowship.


These apprenticeships have been launched to improve colleagues’ data and analytical skills and understanding, and will cover areas, such as using data for effective decision making, best


practice learning, to support collaboration and the development of value- added services and activities. In addition to providing technical training for Python and SQL programming, the schemes will provide insight into how to understand data quality and manage projects, as well as data ethics, visual analytics, predictive modelling and data security. The first cohort of 40 colleagues from across the Group, ranging


from commercial and finance to marketing and supply chain, has already enrolled on the programme, and there are plans to launch two further courses in the new year to focus on data literacy for leaders and ensure data skills are accessible to all.


4 DIY WEEK OCTOBER 2021


generations, who can supplement their savings with cash from previous home sales. Two-thirds of homeowners made major changes to their kitchens, such as changing the layout of the kitchen and upgrading plumbing, electrical or heating (64 and 63 per cent, respectively). Two in five homeowners reframed, moved or added walls, and increased the size of the kitchen during renovations (44 and 42 per cent, respectively). More than half of homeowners replaced all appliances in their newly renovated kitchens (51 percent). Other improvements made to the kitchen include new wall colour or texture, worktops, lighting, cabinets and flooring.


to finance their projects with credit cards fell significantly to 12 per cent (from 19 per cent in 2019). Millennials are more likely to use credit cards than older


France profit growth of over 100 per cent.


Thierry Garnier, Chief Executive


Officer, said: “We have had a very strong first half of the year, with growth across all our categories and channels, e-commerce.


particularly “This is a testament to the rapid


progress being made against our strategic priorities which continue to drive customer engagement and an improved competitive position in our key markets. For this, I remain extremely grateful to all our colleagues for their continuous effort and outstanding customer service.


“Our commitment to ‘do the right thing’ remains a key priority. During the period we announced ambitious


carbon reduction


targets, continued to support the wellbeing and development


Toolstation wins £50,000 share of £500,000 prize in annual advertising competition


Toolstation was among the winners


in Ocean’s annual


digital creative competition for its bold


out-of-home


advertising with ‘The World’s Most Supportive Poster.’ Toolstation won third place in the competition and, along with five other companies, will win a £50,000 share of £500,000 worth of airtime for its campaigns to be showcased across Ocean’s multiple environments and iconic digital formats in cities across the UK. Chosen from a panel


of 19


industry and advertising experts, the prizes were announced on 14 October at Ocean’s annual digital creative competition hosted at the National Gallery in London.


of our colleagues, and created over 5,300 new roles across the Group. “We


have navigated well


through the challenging operational impacts of the pandemic, retaining good product availability at competitive prices


and operating safely.


We have addressed many of Kingfisher’s past issues, with ‘fixes’ now complete in the UK and Poland.” “Our


industry is


from new trends that we believe will be supportive over the long term. These include people spending more time working from home, the emergence of a new generation of DIY’ers, the need for greener homes, and a strong housing market. Kingfisher is well placed to capitalise on these trends and deliver sustained outperformance.”


benefiting


address mental health issues in


Toolstation’s entry helped to the


construction industry.


Research has shown that every day, two tradespeople in the industry, take their own lives, which is three times higher than the national average. Toolstation’s and Krow’s entry came third. Toolstation teamed up with the Lighthouse Club charity, and its live chat poster entry means that tradespeople can connect to Ocean screens using a QR code to privately chat with a trained expert. An anonymized live feed uses different animations to reflect the most talked about topics and helps tackle the stigma around mental health issues facing those in construction. It will also serve as a live listening tool to help experts identify further areas of stress.


HMG Paints Chairman awarded Silver Medal


John Falder, Chairman of HMG Paints, was awarded the coatings industry’s highest honour, the Silver Medal, at the British Coatings Federation Awards Dinner in Manchester on October 14. Instigated by Leslie Silver upon his retirement in 1980, the Silver Medal recognises those who provide outstanding service and an exceptional contribution to the industry’s growth and reputation. John Falder has been actively involved in the industry and with the BCF for over 40 years, taking a leading role in developing several industry initiatives, such as the apprenticeship training scheme and Coatings Care, the industry’s health, safety, and environmental programme. Through the years John has held several influential roles, most notably BCF President between 2014 and 2016. He has chaired the Industrial and Powder Coatings Council and the Vehicle Refinish Committee, as well as being a member of Committee.


the General Purpose and Finance


Tom Bowtell, Chief Executive of the British Coatings Federation commented “John Falder exemplifies the commitment to the industry that the Silver Medal was developed to recognise. He has been a prominent figure in the coatings industry and is a huge advocate of the BCF. We would like to thank John for his support and expertise throughout the years and congratulate him on this very much deserved accolade.”


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