Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Members of The British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA) enjoyed face-to-face time with multiple garden centre retailer Wyevale at the latest BHETA ‘Meet The Buyer’ event, held in conjunction with the Garden Industry Manufacturers’ Association (GIMA).
Seven Wyevale buyers from horticulture, garden and home – plus head of buying-leisure Stuart Heritage and head of buying -gardening Caroline Linger – met with a mix of BHETA and GIMA members at the event on November 12, held at The Holiday Inn in Brentford Lock.
The event was targeted at potential new suppliers to Wyevale and current suppliers of home products, who presented ideas. Companies were pre-selected to attend by Wyevale and were allocated 20 minute appointments with the relevant buyer. A total of 72 appointments took place and feedback from the buying team has revealed that 65 of those appointments will lead to positive follow up from Wyevale.
Commenting on the event, Stuart Heritage said: “Wyevale is always keen to see new and innovative products, regardless of the size of the supplying company, and niche players were just as welcome as larger and more established companies.
“The day exceeded our expectations in terms of opportunities that we will be following up, and we have already confirmed that we will work with BHETA and GIMA on two similar events per year going forward.”
BHETA DIY and garden sector director Peter Stone said: “As anticipated, this was a very popular event and it’s great to see all parties seeing benefits from this kind of opportunity.”
GIMA director Vicky Nuttall added: “This was a really productive occasion and the fact that we are going to repeat the format twice a year with Wyevale going forward is terrific news.”
