Selco Opens Flagship Cricklewood Store

Selco Builders Warehouse has officially taken the wraps off a new home for one of its flagship branches.

Selco Cricklewood has moved into its new location on the JVC Business Park, Priestley Way, Staples Corner - and marked the occasion by donating £800 to local charities and a surprise £500 giveaway to customers.

The new branch is located on a near 100,000 sq ft site, with the interior of the branch five per cent larger than the previous premises.

The change in location – instigated by the lease on the former branch expiring – has seen the introduction of new facilities including a kitchen showroom design area, a dedicated delivery hub unit and improved café.

Howard Luft, Selco chief executive, said: “We are delighted to provide the tradespeople of Cricklewood with more modern premises and improve further the offering to our customers.

“We have had a branch in Cricklewood for more than a decade and this is an exciting new chapter.”

The official opening day saw customers and staff take part in a cycling speed challenge, with participants seeking to travel 0.8 miles – the distance between the old and new branch – on a static bike in the fastest possible time.

The three people who clocked the fastest times won sums of up to £500 to donate to a local charity of their choice.

In addition, 10 tradespeople were surprised with ‘fake’ parking tickets left on the vehicles while they were in the branch. The tradesmen had only quickly popped into the Cricklewood branch of Selco Builders Warehouse so were surprised to see the threatening yellow notices slapped on their windscreens when they returned to their vehicles.

But their anger soon turned to joy when they turned the ‘ticket’ over to find it was in fact a £50 voucher to be spent at Selco.

Gerry Cullen, branch manager for Selco Cricklewood, said: “We have been an integral part of the Cricklewood community for more than a decade now.

“While we have moved premises, our commitment to supporting the communities in which we operate remains the same.

“It was fantastic to see our customers and staff jumping on the bike in branch to cycle the required distance - and there were certainly some impressive performances.”

With hundreds of trade brands always in stock and open seven days and a minimum of 80 hours a week, Selco’s 66 branches in UK are firmly focused on helping local tradespeople complete their jobs as quickly and effectively as possible.

As well as offering trade services and a café in branch, Selco also has a strong digital presence including a 30 minute Click & Collect service and a free Project List app which allows tradespeople to plan, manage, and quote for all jobs – as well as complete purchases - through their smartphone.

Carine Jessamine, marketing director at Selco Builders Warehouse, said: “It was so much fun watching from a distance as our unsuspecting customers returned to their vehicles to find our fake parking tickets underneath their wipers.

“You could see all of the emotion in their faces as they went from shock, to anger, to relief and eventually joy.

“The prank was received in the right spirit by all of our ticket recipients were delighted with their £50 prize in the end. We hope they enjoy spending it and thank them for being such good sports.”

Selco also marked the occasion of the relocation by donating £800 to local charities, as chosen by four customers who completed a 0.8mile cycle the fastest on a static bike.

Fastest over the distance was Darius Kulesza in 1min 53sec. Darius chose to support Starlight Family, which provides free primary level education to over 200 disadvantaged children in Uganda.

The change in location – instigated by the lease on the former branch expiring – has seen the introduction of new facilities including a kitchen showroom design area, a dedicated delivery hub unit and improved café.

Source : Insight DIY and Selco 

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