Feb 23
A Garden Centre in in Somerset is looking for any locally based couples who married in March 1982 and therefore who will be celebrating their pearl wedding anniversary next month to join them as they start a 30 week celebration of their 30th year of trading.
Manager of Monkton Elm Garden and Pet Centre, Norma Moore, said “We are really proud to be celebrating 30 years of business this year and are keen to find people with 30th wedding anniversaries who would like to be involved in our celebrations.”
They will choose three of the couples to join them at a launch party on the 10th March where they will receive a free lunch. Anyone who fits the bill should contact Norma by next Wednesday the 29th Feb.
Feb 23
UK based building materials supplier Travis Perkins, who also own Wickes and Tile Giant, have reported a good profit rise in the last year due to strong sales from their trade sales.
The retail DIY side of the business however has suffered, with the company identifying that the UK DIY market has shrunk by a shocking 25% since 2007. They have announced adjusted pre-tax profits of £297m with a rise of 52% in turnover to £4.78bn.
The company have benefited from their purchase of BSS in 2010, the plumbing and heating company, and Geoff Cooper, Chief Executive, said that they could still expect growth in 2012 in what will no doubt remain a tough market.
Feb 21
Here at diydoctor HQ we have been doing a bit of delving into what is available on the ‘App’ market for the home improver and although a lot of them are US based, there are some interesting, and above all very useful apps out there, and some of them are even free!
A few that have caught our eye include the Houzz app which is a huge resource of home design and decorating ideas to give you inspiration as well as the Photo measures app which allows you to take a photo of a room or maybe an object and then write the measurements over it, so you don’t need to draw dodgy sketches anymore! How clever is that!
There are lots of free spirit level apps available for android and iphones including iHandy Level, Bubble Level or Tiltmeter, as well as the iHandy Carpenter which costs about £1.25 and includes a plumb bob, surface level, spirit level, a protractor and a ruler!
The Plasplugs Tile calculator app by Systems Integration (UK) Ltd allows you to quickly work out the quantity of tiles needed for a given area and there are some very useful carpeting and flooring calulators including a Laminate flooring app by Claire Holmes for £1.49.
If you find any good apps that you have found useful, do let us know so we can pass on any recommendations.
Feb 20
Kingfisher, who own B&Q, have announced an expected 20% rise in profits even though there has been a fall in home improvement and heating sales. Their strong sales in France and better sales through Screwfix have balanced poorer sales in B&Q in the UK. They are expected to report a £799m profit this year compared to £670m last year.
The group have benefited in the last year from the closure of Focus DIY, and saw Kingfisher buy 29 of their stores. They now have approximately 900 stores across eight countries and are the world’s number 3 home improvement retailer after Lowe’s and Home Depot, both US based.
Feb 17
It looks hopeful for a new housing project to get the go-ahead by Swindon Council. The scheme would see a partnership between the borough council and Buildstore Financial Services, who run the National Self Build Centre, to develop a site which would be used for self-build homes.
The proposed site is where Windmill Hill School used to be, before being demolished in 2011, and so is already owned by the council and it has been decided that this is the most preferable site. Councillor Peter Greenhalgh said “It’s a self-contained site within an area of existing housing. It’s difficult to think of any other type of scheme that would work in this specific location.”
The idea is that once planning permission was given, Buildstore would market the 12 building plots for an agreed priceand then once all plots were sold, the council would implement all access roads and paths and provide utilities for all the plots. Then Buildstore would step in to help the self builders with project management so they could all build their own homes.
It sounds like an excellent project to us, and we will be watching carefully to see how this proposed scheme progresses.
