MILTON KEYNES: BHETA’s unique opportunity for DIY and Housewares suppliers to interact with kitchen, bathroom, furniture and homewares retailer, Homebase outside of the usual buying channels is taking off in a big way with appointments for the first event going fast.

The opening event of the new initiative, which is entitled ‘Drive for Growth’, is a ‘meet the buyers’ day on August 31, taking place adjacent to the Homebase head office in Milton Keynes.

In just the first few days of registration, more than a quarter of BHETA members have applied with buyer appointments already snapped up across all housewares and DIY sectors. BHETA housewares director, Will Jones explained, “We anticipated demand for this opening ‘Drive for Growth’ initiative to be high and it has been.

More applications are coming in every day and we expect members to continue registering their interest via the online form on our website, so as not to miss out. So far the majority of applicants have been from potential new suppliers. It’s a great opportunity to sell in ranges, packaging or promotions.”

This first of its kind event is exclusively open to BHETA members on application and is dedicated to finding mutually beneficial trading opportunities which might not otherwise have been recognised so quickly.

BHETA members who wish to attend the inaugural ‘Drive for Growth’ event can apply for timed tickets via the new BHETA website. Successful applicants will need to put together a short and succinct presentation to a standard brief from Homebase in advance of the event.