The British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA) is welcoming the new Toolstation MD, James MacKenzie to speak to members at its next networking forum on 21 March.
MacKenzie , who is the former commercial and e-commerce director of Screwfix, will outline his plans and vision for the business and how BHETA members can share in this. Toolstation is one of Britain’s fastest growing suppliers to the trade, home improvement and self-build industry and part of the Travis Perkins Group. With a multi-channel offering, Toolstation customers can buy online, at over 270-plus branches across the UK, through a dedicated UK call centre, or via a mobile website.
The forum will also be of great interest to exporters. Hot on the heels of a successful trade mission to Slovenia last September in collaboration with the British Slovenian Chambers of Commerce, Merkur, one of Slovenia’s largest home retailers will be speaking to potential suppliers. Company director Matija Kranjc will be giving an overview of the business and exploring ways of doing more trade with BHETA members.
There will be two other speakers. One of BHETA’s long standing service providers – Phocas Software – is a company-wide data analytics solution that pulls together all the relevant data from your existing systems and presents a single source of the truth in a way that is easy to interrogate, understand and action. Finally, Eric Churet of SEDEX will provide the background on this global collaborative platform for sharing and sourcing data on supply chains. SEDEX is used by over 40,000 members in over 150 countries to ensure that products for potential listing are being sourced through a supply chain that meets all current standards in relation to labour rights, health and safety, the environment and business ethics.
The Forum starts at 9.30am at Federation House, 10 Vyse St, Birmingham. Refreshments will be provided on the day, including a networking lunch.
BHETA’s Home Improvement and Garden Sector Director, Paul Grinsell said: “We have an excellent line up of speakers specifically chosen to highlight opportunities in the industry and stimulate debate on a number of current issues. The networking opportunity is bound to be very valuable as well.”
BHETA members interested in attending should contact Dawn Clarke in the Member Services Team on 0121 237 1130 or email at dc@bheta.co.uk.