NEWS Covers donates £30,000 to hospice charities


Covers Timber & Builders Merchants


has donated


£30,000 to hospice charities, following the return of its hugely successful fundraising initiative Help for Hospices. The money will be divided between twelve charities. The charities that have benefited include Demelza Hospice in Sittingbourne, Kent; Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice in Farnham, Surrey; St Barnabas House in Worthing, West Sussex; Martlets


Hospice in Brighton, East Sussex; St Wilfrid’s Hospice in Bosham, West


Sussex; St Catherine’s


Hospice in Crawley, West Sussex; St Peter & St James Hospice & Continuing Care Centre in Lewes, East


Sussex; The


Rowans Hospice in Waterlooville, Hampshire; Mountbatten Hospice


in Southampton,


Hampshire; Hospice in the Weald in Tunbridge Wells, Kent; and children’s hospices, Naomi House and Jacksplace in Winchester,


Hampshire; and Chestnut Tree House in Arundel, West Sussex. In addition to Covers donating £5 for each registered customer that made a purchase during the event, staff at Covers’ 14 depots, along with volunteers from the hospices,


came together to


host a Best of British themed ‘builders bake off’ and bake sale. All proceeds raised from the bake sale went towards the final fundraising amount. Covers’ Help for Hospices has been running


HMG Paints announces new decorative distributor, Hashtag The Paint Shop


Recently opened painting and decorating merchants, Hashtag The Paint Shop, is supplying trade professionals with HMG Paints Out of


decorative their


coatings. large shop in


Macclesfield, and online at www.hashtagthepaintshop. co.uk, the paint suppliers are offering a myriad of HMG products from fence and shed paints to interior coatings and are welcoming new customers. “It has been one of my most moments,


favourable finding


HMG and stocking their Made In Britain paints for the launch of my new store,” said Jake McGarry, Owner of Hashtag the Paint Shop “With their paints manufactured just down the road in Manchester, we are receiving freshly made paint on a weekly basis. After feedback from local painters and decorators it was clear that HMG’s products and service have a great reputation which really excites me for our partnership and the future” continued Jake.


Jake has been in the painting and decorating industry for over 13 years, previously working as Bromborough Paints Sales Manager. Jake now brings his expertise to his own store, Hashtag The Paint Shop, offering a range of paints, wallpapers, and sundries to cover the needs of all painters and decorators. Based on Fence Industrial Estate in Macclesfield, Hashtag The Paint Shop opened their doors and launched their website in August 2021 and are off to a flying start with plans to open a second branch during 2022. The decorating merchant stocks reputable


Wickes Group plc issues Q3 trading update


Wickes Group plc has provided a third quarter trading update and confirms profit guidance for the full year. It shows strong performance on a two-year basis, with profit guidance confirmed. Wickes continued to perform well in the third


quarter, with a resilient sales performance. As expected, Core sales moderated as we annualised tough 2020 comparatives, and remained strongly ahead on a two-year basis, underpinned by our digital leadership and operational strengths. Core


sales were supported by strong


performance in local trade, where home renovations continue to drive robust order books for our trade customers. Wickes operational strengths meant supply shortages had no material impact on sales in the period. As reported across the industry, we have seen price inflation accelerate, and we continue to manage this responsibly by focusing on cash margin recovery while maintaining our leading price position. DIFM reported sales were ahead year-on-year, with an improving trend on a two year basis. As outlined at the interim results, Q3 DIFM ordered


www.diyweek.net


sales* were broadly in line with 2019. The total DIFM order book remains considerably higher year- on-year impacted by extended project completion lead times, and this will result in a higher carry over of orders into 2022. David Wood, CEO of Wickes commented: “This


resilient performance has been underpinned by our digitally-led and service-enabled customer proposition, while our agile business model has enabled us to continue to navigate inflationary pressures and raw material constraints well. We are well-placed within a large and growing home improvement market, and look to the future with confidence. I would like to thank all of my colleagues for their hard work and support as we continue to help the nation feel house proud.”


brands, chosen by the team, with same day colour matching available in store. HMG Paints specialist coatings for UPVC and kitchens accompany best sellers Contract Matt Emulsion and Fence & Shed Paint on the shelves, along with the full range of HMG’s water-based decorative coatings. “We are really pleased to be working with Hashtag The Paint Shop and look forward to growing our partnership with them. Jake is passionate about delivering the best quality service to his customers and providing the latest products. The team are enthusiastic about educating and assisting decorators on products and processes alike. We are confident that Hashtag The Paint Shop will go from strength to strength and flourish alongside HMG Paints and our


growing


decorative distribution network.” Said Gracienne Ikin, Brand Development & Communications Manager, HMG Paints.


since 2015 and the company has now given more than £185,000 to the hospices it supports. Rupert Green, Chairman of Covers, said: “We were thrilled to see the return of our Help for


Covers OTBS


employee completes 50km challenge for Kent Hospice in memory of partner


An employee from Covers OTBS


in Bexleyheath has


completed a 50-kilometre challenge for charity in memory of her partner.


Zoe Elms, a sales


representative at the Orpington timber and builders’ merchants, embarked on the Thames Path Challenge alongside her mum, Liz Elms. The pair were raising money for Heart of Kent Hospice, which cared for Zoe’s partner, Craig Petch, in his final days before he sadly passed away from cancer. Despite some


difficult


moments, Zoe and Liz finished the challenge ahead of their goal finish time, completing the 50km


route in an impressive nine hours and 25 minutes. Zoe said: “A huge thank you


to everyone who has shown their support and for their kind words, messages and donations. We have raised a massive £1,030 on JustGiving and, due to Covers’


generous


match, we have increased that total to £2,030 for The Heart of Kent Hospice.”


Touchscreen technology for garden centres solves staff and skills shortages


Joy of Plants and Review Systems Digital Signage Ltd have recently launched a new smaller ‘Plant Finder’ Touchscreen Kiosk to solve staff and skills shortages at garden centres.


The innovative 21-inch digital touchscreens are supplied as freestanding kiosks or wall mounted units, include Joy of Plants’ Plant Finder, and can be individually branded for each garden centre. Jonathan Brown, Managing Director at Review Systems Digital Signage in Preston, said: “Our new pedestal-style Plant Finder Kiosks are affordable, attractive and


enticing. We recently received great feedback at Glee, with visitors calling them ‘phenomenal’ and ‘fantastic’. The units are very versatile – they can easily be moved to different locations in-store as garden centres change their layouts seasonally. Joy of Plants handles regular seasonal updates of new plants and new care products ensuring that the information available to staff and visiting customers is always up to date, freeing up staff to look after customers and plants. Terri Jones, Managing Director at Joy of Plants, explained: “We’re thrilled with the new 21-inch touchscreen kiosk that we launched at Glee. We’ve taken our first orders and expect to see the units in stores before Christmas.


For further details about Review Systems Digital Signage, visit www.godigitalsignage.co.uk or call 01772 875536.


OCTOBER 2021 DIY WEEK 7


Hospices campaign after it was cancelled last year. Donating to hospices in the communities we operate in is extremely important to us and the principal way we show our support for the vital work they do for patients and their loved ones. Thank you to everyone who joined us during the week and helped us to raise funds. We hope the money will make a real difference to the hospices and the people they care for.”


funding


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