Home Timber & Hardware Group’s (HTHG) National Conference, held on the Gold Coast in March, brought together the largest gathering of industry leaders and key influencers, culminating in a record sales event.
Over three days and nights, the group’s independent members, company-owned stores and suppliers lived its theme ‘Dare To Do More’ and achieved a number of record outcomes including:
- Over 3,000 trade show specials offered
- A record $5.6 million in sales written at the trade show (up to 10 per cent on last year’s result)
- Over 300 stores in attendance
- 176 suppliers in attendance
- 35 award winners
- Engaging and relevant keynote presentations from Samantha Taranto and Mark Matthews
- Open Q&A plenary session with James Aylen
- A spectacular dinner on the hallowed grounds of Metricon Stadium, sponsored by Valspar
- Gala Dinner topped off with entertainment from fab four – Ross Wilson, Joe Camilleri, Richard Clapton and Leo Sayer
Home Timber & Hardware Group general manager James Aylen said the positive results of the conference were a testament to the passion and dedication of the group’s independent retailers and to the suppliers who have shown continued loyalty and commitment to HTHG.
“There has been a great deal of change for the Home Timber & Hardware Group recently but these results just go to show the strength and unity of our group. It’s all about delivering rewards for our members and for our suppliers, and over $5million in sales in what is a tough market, not to mention a significant degree of uncertainty in our business, is just a sensational result and more gratifying than anything else we achieved at the event,” Mr Aylen said.
The conference also provided a platform for Mr Aylen to lead an open discussion at the plenary session on the final day of the conference, to answer questions directly from the floor and reaffirm the group’s commitment to support its members and suppliers. The best performing stores and suppliers were also recognised by the national hardware group, with a total of 35 awards presented.
“A significant proportion of our stores continue to raise the bar in retail excellence; however, these particular businesses have gone that extra mile. We are exceptionally proud to have the winners as part of our group and proud of the dedication they have shown to HTH.”
“These store owners have worked incredibly hard to provide a superior offer for local customers and we look forward to seeing the business continue to prosper with HTHG in the years ahead,” Mr Aylen said.
Recognising the value of its extensive supplier base, the contribution of key vendors was also recognised with a range of award categories presented.
The event was also used as a platform to announce that Home Timber & Hardware had been crowned the ‘Hardware Store of the Year’ for a third time in four years, at the recent Roy Morgan 2015 Customer Satisfaction Awards. Satisfaction ratings are collected from Roy Morgan’s Single Source survey of approximately 50,000 Australians annually – the world’s largest ongoing single source survey – with customers asked to rate their shopping experiences with individual brands across a range of sectors. Based on 12 months of data, Home Timber & Hardware’s customer satisfaction rated ahead of other leading hardware brands.
Store awards
Home Timber & Hardware Group
2016 Best Young Retailer – Laura Town, T M & H Timber & Hardware
Kanchana Manivong and Irena Kupkovic from Janbay Home Hardware, Bill Nutting from Bretts Home Timber & Hardware and Germano Tomassetti from ITI Australia.
Home Timber & Hardware (Independent stores)
2015 National Store of the Year (over 1,000m2) – Bretts Timber & Hardware
2015 National Store of the Year (under
1,000m2) – Ocean Grove Home Timber & Hardware
2015 VIC/TAS Store of the Year (over 1,000m2) – WB Hunter Yarrawonga
2015 VIC/TAS Store of the Year (under 1,000m2) – Ocean Grove Home Timber & Hardware
2015 NSW/ACT Store of the Year (over 1,000m2) – Gubbins Home Timber & Hardware
2015 NSW/ACT Store of the Year (under 1,000m2) – Narooma Building Supplies
2015 QLD Store of the Year (over 1,000m2) – Bretts Timber & Hardware
2015 QLD Store of the Year (under 1,000m2) – Kawana Hardware & Garden Centre
2015 SA/NT Store of the Year (over 1,000m2) – Globe Home Timber & Hardware
2015 SA/NT Store of the Year (under 1,000m2) – Loxton Home Timber & Hardware
2015 WA Store of the Year (over 1,000m2) – Donnybrook Hardware & Garden
2015 WA Store of the Year (under 1,000m2) – Exmouth Hardware & Building Supplies
Ash, Debbie and Tony Weller from Park Road Home Timber & Hardware, Tony Macgeorge from HTH Group and Paul Serra from WB Hunter.
Home Timber & Hardware (Company stores)
2016 National Site Manager of the Year – Danny Plant, Hardings Acacia Ridge
2016 VIC Site Manager of the Year – John Sinclair, Tait Home Timber & Hardware Mt Waverley
2016 TAS Site Manager of the Year – Rob Rosier, Becks Home Timber & Hardware Scottsdale
2016 QLD Site Manager of the Year – John Miller, Hudson Home Timber & Hardware Nerang
2016 ACT/NSW South Site Manager of the Year – Peter Kelly, Hudson Home Timber & Hardware Katoomba
2016 NSW North Site Manager of the Year – Greg Keyes, Hudson Home Timber & Hardware Glendale
2016 Hardings Site Manager of Year – Danny Plant, Hardings Acacia Ridge
Stuart Naylor from Apex Tool Group, Dawn Lavis, Nick Ainley and Chris Lavis from Scone Home Timber & Hardware.
Thrifty-Link Hardware
2015 National Store of the Year – Wycheproof Hardware
2015 VIC/TAS Store of the Year – Wycheproof Hardware
2015 NSW/ACT Store of the Year – Dunedoo Rural Hardware
2015 QLD Store of the Ye
ar – Bernborough Hardware & Produce
2015 SA/NT Store of the Year – Port Broughton Hardware
2015 WA Store of the Year – Karratha Timber & Building Supplies
Scott and Nick Pope from Newman Hardware and Pope’s Hardware, Michael Sheer and James Gerhardy from Juncken Home Timber & Hardware, Rob Best from HTH Group
Supplier Awards
2016 National Supplier of the Year – Bremick
2016 Supplier of the Year | Home Timber & Hardware – Bremick
2016 Supplier of the Year | Thrifty-Link Hardware – Hitachi Power Tools Australia
2016 Innovation of the Year – USG Boral
2016 Exhibitor of the Year – Pope (Toro)
2016 Logistics Supplier of the Year – Yates Australia
2016 Supplier of the Year | House & Garden – Amgrow
2016 Supplier of the Year | Timber & Building Supplies – Fletcher Insulation
2016 Supplier of the Year | Trade Tools & Consumables – Bremick