The next British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA) forum will take place on March 14 and will feature a range of speakers relevant to independent retail.
Heading the agenda is Vin Vara, owner of the Tool Shop Group a multi award winning independent hardware and tool retailer based in central London. His first outlet was launched in Waterloo in 1997 and now forms the central core of a group of nine stores, listing hardware/DIY and housewares products. Mr Vara will be sharing his view on the market and highlighting the opportunities of 'doing better business with independents'.

Mr Vara is also the 2016/17 incoming president (May) of the British Independent Retailers' Association (BIRA) and will be using the opportunity to share his views and initial thoughts of his year in office. He will be supported by Mick Weedon, BIRA's director of communications, who has a wealth of knowledge and experience of both independent hardware and cookshop retail.

The forum, which kicks off at 9.30 am at Federation House, 10 Vyse Street, Birmingham and concludes with a networking lunch, will continue the retail theme with presentations from Insight DIY md Steve Collinge, and Paul Halliwell, chief operating officer Twenty Ci, the UK's leading lifestage trigger agency. Mr Collinge's talk is entitled 'Retail Prices - The race to the bottom' and Mr Halliwell will be discussing how the value of consumers varies according to life stage and how better targeting can yield better returns on marketing spend.

BHETA's home improvement sector director Paul Grinsell said: "This is a very comprehensive agenda providing an up to the minute insight into the opportunities in the independent sector. Anyone not already booked in should contact Sally Hawkins in member services as soon as possible (sh@bheta.co.uk).

"We would also be delighted to see non-members as this would be an ideal opportunity for engagement with interesting speakers, networking and getting a sense of what BHETA has to offer. All for a nominal fee of £75.00 + VAT!"