UK DIY News
Kingfisher scoops hat-trick of awards
Kingfisher scooped a hat-trick of wins at the 2018 Retail Week Awards last week, with two awards for Screwfix and one for B&Q. Screwfix took home awards in the ‘Best Retailer over £250m’ and ‘Digital Pioneer’ categories, and Rachel Hollins from B&Q Uttoxeter was named ‘Store Manager of the Year’.
Screwfix was announced Best Retailer Over £250m for its unique understanding of customer needs; its ability to harness data to spot the latest trends; and its powerful digital platform. These have been key in driving Screwfix’s ongoing success against strong competition.
In the Digital Pioneer category, Screwfix secured the top place thanks to its powerful new digital platform. The technology enables customers to click-and-collect products within as little as one minute, and keep their Screwfix card, shopping lists, receipts, product catalogue in one place through its innovative app. Across Kingfisher, we are using this best-in-class digital capability to develop leading ecommerce platforms in our stores and back of house across Europe, as part of our ambitious five-year transformation programme.
As manager at B&Q’s Uttoxeter store, Rachel has already led her team to national success, with Uttoxeter named B&Q’s Store of the Year in 2017. The Retail Week Award is further evidence of her inspirational leadership skills and detailed understanding of customer needs. Rachel’s commitment to customers and colleagues made her award entry stand out for the Retail Week judges. Her store has received consistently excellent feedback from customers and she has been integral to the development of future talent thorough B&Q’s Rising Stars programme. It’s this focus on people that lies behind B&Q Uttoxeter’s success, with the store achieving a like-for-like sales growth of +8% over the past year, despite challenging market conditions.
Kingfisher CEO Véronique Laury, Chairman Andy Cosslett and several other members of the Kingfisher, B&Q and Screwfix leadership teams attended the awards in London to celebrate in our colleagues’ success.
Commenting on the awards, Véronique Laury said: “These awards are a result of the hard work and talent of all our colleagues across Kingfisher. By putting the customer at the heart of everything we do, both in store and online, we are creating good homes and starting to help make home improvement accessible to everyone. Congratulations to Rachel and her team, and to all the Screwfix colleagues, who share in these successes.”
The Retail Week Awards have been a firm fixture in the retail calendar for 23 years, and are a symbol of excellence in the retail sector, providing a platform for industry-wide recognition of the brightest boardroom leaders, digital stars and store managers.
Source: Insight DIY Team & Kingfisher press release.
Thank you for the excellent presentation that you gave at Woodbury Park on Thursday morning. It was very interesting and thought-provoking for our Retail members. The feedback has been excellent.