B&Q

The Times shines a light on our 53 Store to Home digital hubs Our 53 digital hub stores are a crucial part of our store to home service and fulfill around 85 per cent of all of our customers’ online orders. Paddy Earnshaw and Jamie McMillan gave The Times a look behind the scenes at how we’re using our stores to improve our delivery offer, to help us to meet increasing consumer demand for speed, convenience, and mobile access. See article link in Comments (subscriber only). Unseen by customers shopping in our stores, our digital hubs are where our dedicated digital hub team colleagues pick and pack items ordered online, for Click and Collect or home delivery. Picked and packed orders are delivered by two person vans in partnership with GXO Logistics, Inc., one person vans operated by the store, or parcel delivery in partnership with DPD UK, depending on their size and bulk. Launched in May 2020, we’ve continued to improve the efficiency of our digital hubs which have significantly changed how we fulfil online orders - the majority of which we now fulfill from our stores. We’re delighted that, in partnership with GXO, B&Q has been recognised by @Motor Transport as the Home Delivery Operator of the Year at the 2024 for our home delivery service from our 53 digital hub stores. Well done to Rob Owst, Jon Paul Brown, Jamie McMillan and their teams for winning this award. #BandQ #DigitalHub #StoreToHome

Jess Gillan is paving the way in connecting our customers with quality products - utilising customer reviews to drive meaningful change across our digital platforms. Looking for a 5-star career? Join us! https://bit.ly/3TohV4Q #TogetherWeCan

We’ve got an exciting day ahead celebrating over 280 of our colleagues who have successfully passed their apprenticeships this year! No matter your role, location or what stage you’re at in your career, we’re invested in supporting our colleague’s development. Hear from Mehnaz Akhter, Tony Redford and Julie Morris - Brand as they look ahead to their graduation. Congratulations to everyone graduating today! Want to join the Class of 2025? Find out more https://bit.ly/4e22Z4P #TogetherWeCan

New TradePoint brand campaign - ‘For the Trade’   Today TradePoint UK, our trade brand offering trade professionals exclusive access to services and discounts on all home improvement materials, launched a new brand campaign ‘For the Trade’, which puts real trades people at its heart.   Speaking about the launch, John Morgan said: “We’re really excited to launch 'For the Trade', our first brand campaign in five years. We know that the trade loves the value and convenience of B&Q TradePoint - especially for top-ups or last-minute needs - and we now want to showcase the brilliant depth of our offering.   “Through our new adverts, we are speaking directly to trade professionals to show that B&Q TradePoint stocks everything they need to complete a full job - be it refitting a bathroom or building a stud wall. We’ve made real tradespeople the stars of the show and we’re excited for you to meet them. This is a new chapter for B&Q TradePoint and demonstrates how we are - in every sense - for the trade.”   Made in partnership with Uncommon Creative Studio, the ‘For the Trade’ campaign includes a series of visual assets and three short films featuring genuine tradespeople reciting, in 'builders tongue', a list of goods needed for specific trade jobs. The language used speaks specifically to trade professionals, and all the items are available from TradePoint - from “nipples” to “lost heads” to “CLS” and beyond. Use the Youtube links in comments to watch the videos.   TradePoint’s ‘For the Trade’ campaign will be live across TV, VOD, and in social media, as well as feature as part of TradePoint’s ongoing partnership with Fix Radio.     #BandQ #TradePoint #ForTheTrade

This weekend, colleagues from across the UK came together and marched in our home city for Southampton Pride. Taking to the streets of Southampton, we celebrated our colleagues and communities, bringing to life our inclusive culture to really show what #TogetherWeCan means to us all. Want to find out more about what it means to belong at B&Q? https://bit.ly/4cHWnHr

NEW STORE: We're excited to announce that we have opened our first B&Q Local store outside of London today in Brighton, making this the 11th B&Q Local store in our portfolio. B&Q Local Brighton is a new smaller high street format providing customers with speed, convenience, and access to B&Q’s wider offer of products and services but closer to home. To celebrate the opening, store manager Connor Sime was joined by local choir Brighton Gay Men’s Choir, local artist Dave Pop Art who designed a bright and colourful store window mural and Brighton and Hove ward councillor Andrei Czolak. The new compact 4,000 sq. ft store will offer 3,500 products, available either in store for immediate pick-up or next day click and collect, as well as access to over 30,000 additional home improvement products for home delivery.  Customers can access to the full range through home delivery and click and collect. The B&Q Local sub-banner has now been rolled out across 11 high street locations, with plans to open more. The Local concept is a different offering to the larger stores traditionally associated with B&Q and has clear ‘Local’ branding to differentiate. The smaller format gives us the opportunity to get closer to our customers and adapt to changing consumer demand for speed and convenience. As well as products, customers can access services such as paint mixing, kitchen and bathroom design, Click & Collect, instore ordering, key cutting and WEE recycling closer to home. The new store is located at 143 North Street, BN1 1RE, Connor and the team look forward to welcoming the Brighton residents to the store.

We're going for gold! We're incredibly proud of our Armed Forces Community and all they have achieved in supporting colleagues who've served, are serving or part of a forces family. Hear from John Green, one of Unit Managers, about what winning the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Employer Status means to him. Find out more about what we offer https://bit.ly/3AeNxDl #TogetherWeCan #GoldERS24

We are proud to announce that we have received the Defence Relationship Management (DRM) Employer Recognition scheme Gold Award for our commitment to supporting ex-armed forces veterans, Reservists, Cadet Forces Adult Volunteers (CFAV) and their families #GoldERS24 #BandQ #Belonging

Today, we’ve published new research highlighting the gender barrier for female school leavers looking to enter the Trade industry. Ahead of GCSE and A-Level result days, our data found that half of girls leaving school believe that boys receive more opportunities to enter the sector that they do. Three-quarters of surveyed girls aged between 16-18 say they’re unaware of any female tradespeople, highlighting a severe lack of role models in the industry. Only 2% of tradespeople are women, which needs to increase. We have pledged £1 million to fund trade apprenticeships and are working with Transfer to Transform – our apprenticeship and skills partners – to encourage and help promote this among girls and women. 

Work that works for you. That’s us. We’re champions of flexible working, whether it’s reducing your hours, fixed shift patterns or term-time only, we help you work smarter. Don’t just take it from us, hear it from Digital Trade Optimisation Lead Jess Gillan about her recent experiences in finding the right balance.   Find out more about what we offer https://bit.ly/3AeNxDl #TogetherWeCan