As many people who Wickes are and they may offer the response that they are the company with slow grown timber or the ones whose adverts are voiced by the legendary Timothy Spall but Wickes are a lot more than their adverts.
Where Wickes Started
Wickes opened its first store in the UK in 1972 in Manchester in what was heralded as a joint venture between the US group, Wickes Corporation, and the UK builders merchant, Sankeys.
Since then the Wickes brand (not just about kitchens) has gone public on the London Stock Exchange (1987), was acquired by the Focus Group in 2000 and as at today has some 200 retail stores and a £1bn plus annual turnover.
That Focus Group sold Wickes to Travis Perkins in 2005 proved pivotal to Wickes seeing that as of 2011 the Focus DIY brand was no more and the Focus Group went bang with the closure of some 120 stores and 3,000 job losses and along with it the other brands of Payless DIY, Payless Properties, and Do It All.
Latest Wickes Performance
Things haven’t been easy for the entire DIY, Home Improvement and Property sector since the credit crunch but Wickes has seemed to remain fairly robust.
Despite the Travis Perkins group year on year sales slumping almost 9% last month, sales in Wickes bucked the group trend and rose as a result of the new stores acquired last year, which have traded significantly ahead of the targets, the company said.
What Wickes say about themselves
Our stores and website stock a wide selection of own-brand home improvement products designed to meet the requirements of all DIYers and tradesmen undertaking DIY projects, general repairs and maintenance.
We believe that Wickes provides the best value for money in the DIY market, and we are committed to strengthening our position as the destination DIY and home improvement store for tradesmen and DIYers of every level.
There are currently over 10,000 products in the Wickes range available to order in-store, online or by telephone. We have a number of themed in-store showrooms highlighting our range of kitchens and bathrooms, and also stock a comprehensive range of FREE 'Good Idea' and 'Build Your Skills' leaflets, which have been designed to inform and advise customers on a number of key DIY topics (you can also find these online).
As a company, we are always looking for ways to help improve the environment - for example, by recycling waste packaging material generated by our stores. Whether they are located in the UK or further afield, manufacturers and suppliers of Wickes products must meet our high standards for environmental awareness. We ensure that they minimise the impact that their production activities have on the immediate surroundings, and only produce goods that meet or exceed our demanding quality targets.
Wickes & the Environment
Wickes is fully committed to minimising the company's impact on the environment.
We are taking positive steps to improve energy efficiency and reduce waste from our stores, offices and distribution centres, whilst making a concerted effort to source our materials and products from environmentally responsible suppliers and manufacturers.
Wickes is a founding signatory to the British Retail Consortiums statement setting out retail sector environmental targets.
As part of the Travis Perkins Group, Wickes environmental management controls are externally certified to the international standard ISO 14001 and Wickes contributes to the achievement of performance targets against which progress is publicly reported.
