A recent 'Meet the Buyer' day organised by The British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA) with garden and homewares retailer Robert Dyas has resulted in eight confirmed new listings and three more in the pipeline.

These further possibilities have been described as the retailer's commercial director Phil Green as "very positive."

The event involved 40 BHETA members taking part in 76 appointments with the whole Robert Dyas buying team, both heads of buying and Mr Green, who was very enthusiastic about the day's results. "Robert Dyas is always looking for new and different product lines," he said. "We go to all the shows for that reason, but at shows it's sometimes difficult to see the wood for the trees! Here, thanks to some excellent organisation from BHETA, the whole team has the opportunity to see products from potential suppliers who have done their homework on our offer and pre-selected items to suit us."

The companies with confirmed listings in Robert Dyas as a result of the March 29 event are Le Chateau, Systema, Gorilla Glue, DNC, Oxo Good Grips, La Cafetiere, Astonish, the London Oil Company and Eddingtons. Ongoing negotiations are still taking place with Whitefurze, Masterlock and Terraillon as well as other potential new suppliers.

BHETA's DIY sector director Peter Stone said: "This is fantastic. This kind of event is a superb chance for both suppliers and buyers to interact outside of the usual buying channels and cover a considerable amount of ground in just one day. It saves time, breaks the ice and gives those on the buying side the chance of a fresh look."

BHETA's housewares sector director Will Jones added: "This proves that the idea of finding mutually beneficial trading opportunities which might not otherwise be recognised really works. It takes considerable organisation, but the benefits speak for themselves. I'm delighted to confirm that we will be announcing BHETA's next Meet the Buyer event very shortly."

With more than 90 stores in the South of England, Robert Dyas is a well-known convenience high-street retailer with ranges from kitchen to garden, hardware and small electrical.

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