Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
BHETA will be holding a Housewares Forum for all its members on Wednesday February 25 at its Birmingham headquarters which, for the first time, will feature two retail guest speakers representing very different sectors of the market.
The first retail guest speaker is Richard Lancaster, trading director for Poundland, responsible for trading and marketing across all categories for the chain of 500-plus stores. Richard was previously responsible for trading at Sainsbury’s and, together with Poundland ceo Jim Mc Carthy (a former Sainsbury’s managing director) has been instrumental in delivering its recent dramatic expansion. Richard will share his vision of the future of Poundland growth, not only in the UK but also in Europe, and make suppliers aware of future trading opportunities.
The second retail guest speaker is David Hewitt who is the merchandise director at Bentalls in Kingston-upon-Thames, responsible for the non-apparel trading functions across the Surrey store. He will discuss his views and thoughts on the market, the key role that homewares plays across the Fenwick Group, and the opportunities for suppliers. He will also talk about how Bentalls’ customers are responding to omni-channel options.
In addition, Simon Boyd, who is operations director for Exclusively Housewares, will provide an update on the London trade show that takes place from June 9-10 at the Business Design Centre in Islington. He will reveal details of a programme of seminars and initiatives and the launch of Exclusively Electrical, which is being held for the first time in conjunction with Exclusively Housewares this year.
Refreshments will be provided on the day, including a networking lunch. BHETA said: “We anticipate this being a very popular event and would encourage you to book early to ensure a place. In the first instance please register your interest to Sally Hawkins at sh@bheta.co.uk.”
