New Chapter Begins for Homebase

Having established solid foundations between 2018 and 2019 and strong sales momentum, Homebase is successfully coming out of its major turnaround plan and closing 2020 by starting conversations with potential new owners to accelerate its next phase of growth and transformation.

Looking ahead to the next chapter, Homebase is making bold changes to boost the inspirational offering for existing and new customers. The growth plan centres on four key priorities:

• Expanding inspirational ranges and enhance the shopping experience 

• Ranges: To complement the 10,000+ new on-trend products introduced in the last two years, Homebase will continue to introduce new and expanded product ranges and continue to build new partnerships with leading brands and even more to be added in the coming months. 
• In store shopping experience: Building on the £27m investment already made in existing stores and the website, Homebase will continue working with suppliers and partners to provide inspiration, help and advice for customers. New innovative layouts and concepts such as ‘Get the Look’ room sets, updated showrooms, Bathstore pop-us, and a Storage & More ‘shop-within-a-shop’ will bring products, expertise and inspiration together for customers, to help them turn their home and garden ideas into action, for both full room and garden transformation projects, and small tweaks and upgrades.

Unlocking major digital opportunity

A key new 10-year strategic partnership with The Hut Group will transform the entire Homebase shopping experience. A new website, ready for customers around Easter 2021, will include new room planning and design tools, as well as helpful home improvement tips, look books and ‘before and after’ views, to help customers tap into inspiration and trends. It will also give customers access to extensive specialist advice from the Homebase team around how to tactical key jobs around the home and garden, as well as deep product knowledge and expertise. 

Adding new stores and retail concepts

Homebase recently announced plans to open a brand new store in Abingdon, Oxfordshire at the end of 2021, and has exciting ambitions to open a further 15 new standalone stores in the next few years - each creating anywhere between 30 to 50 jobs in their local community. In addition to this, Homebase will also be building on the success of new retail concepts - for example, DECORATE by Homebase (currently open in Cheadle and Sutton), which brings the best of decorative design and inspiration to the high street for customers, and the dual branded Bathstore and Kitchens by Homebase showroom in Guildford.

Investing in the Homebase teams and local communities

The 5,600 strong Homebase team has played a central role in its business turnaround journey, delivering on a vision to help every customer create a home they love. Continued investment into building a culture of learning, training and personal growth will support every member the team, alongside agile ways of working that encourage everyone to have a voice as the business continues to grow. Looking ahead to 2021, Homebase will also commit even more to supporting local community projects across the UK and Ireland, something the Homebase store teams have always played an active role doing.

Damian McGloughlin, Homebase CEO, says: “I couldn’t be prouder of what we have achieved, and the agility of the business and resilience of our team through an extraordinary year. The Covid crisis brought with it a mix of challenges and opportunities, which have broadly offset each other, meaning we’re finishing 2020 in line with what we set out to achieve right at the start of our turnaround journey. As we look ahead to 2021 I’m so excited about the growth plans we have, to cement our position as the home and garden experts, and provide a one-stop shop for the products, expertise and inspiration our customers need to refresh or completely transform their homes and gardens.”

Source: Exclusive Homebase briefing with Insight DIY

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