Speedy, the UK’s leading provider of tools and equipment hire and B&Q, the UK’s leading home improvement retailer, have formally extended their partnership which offers tool hire to DIY customers. The partnership builds on an initial trial and will enable customers across the UK to hire the latest high quality tools and equipment from Speedy stores within B&Q, for their home improvement projects.
B&Q is committed to making it easier for customers to improve their homes and make life better. Partnerships are an essential part of this, with shop-in-shop and concession partnership models enabling B&Q to adapt quickly to changing consumer demands in order to get closer to customers and ensure that their needs are met. The Speedy Hire partnership demonstrates the pace, scale and agility that’s central to B&Q’s growth strategy.
“Following a successful trial, we are delighted to announce this formal agreement to extend our partnership with B&Q. This new agreement demonstrates the power of the Speedy brand and our market leading customer service proposition. We have seen growing demand from B&Q customers for our products since we opened our first in-store outlet last year, and we’re excited about supporting more DIYers up and down the UK as we continue to grow,” said Russell Down, Chief Executive, Speedy.
The Speedy in-store outlets will provide B&Q customers with access to the firm’s national four-hour delivery promise on its 350 most popular products. These range from angle grinders, floor sanders, hammer drills and mixers to tower scaffolds, generators, lighting and dust extraction units, and can be ordered in time to enable DIYers to get on with the job same day.
Speedy has seen rising demand for hire from B&Q customers since the start of the trial last summer. Hiring a wide range of tools and equipment enables homeowners to be more confident and ambitious with their DIY, and provides them with a convenient and accessible way of completing improvement projects where buying bigger ticket DIY tools may not be feasible.
“We’re delighted to be rolling out tool and equipment hire service concessions to 23 more of our stores with Speedy, following a trial at 16 stores. Our customers are continuing to adapt and change to new ways of living and shopping, and the Speedy concessions are just one way in which we’re making it easier for people to improve their homes. We’re excited by the potential re-use of our space to offer new services in store and the positive response we’re seeing from our customers,” added Chris Bargate, Director of Business Development, B&Q.
With sustainability high on the agenda, hiring tools that would be used a handful of times and then stored away potentially destined for landfill will also benefit the environment, reflecting a more circular economy in the re-use of DIY tools and equipment.
Speedy’s existing customers will also have access to the new trade counters 7 days a week to order and collect products, adding to its existing 200-strong national Service Centre network. The roll-out follows the successful trial in 16 B&Q stores with a further 23 in-store outlets scheduled to open by January.
