How’s your sofa?

24 March 2021

Full-year results earlier this week from B&Q’s owner, Kingfisher, exceeded forecasts and pleased shareholders. But what I found particularly interesting were some accompanying comments that had positive implications for tool hirers – and, even, sofa manufacturers. 

Chief executive officer, Thierry Garnier, said that the pandemic has established new longer-term trends that support home improvement activity. These include more people working from home and the development of “a generation of DIYers” as people improve the spaces around them. 

Spending more time at home, he said, will result in more wear and tear on the home, as well as the need to organise living areas differently. 

Indeed, specialist sofa retailer DFS (pictured) has reported rocketing sales as people replaced worn out furniture after months of lockdown. Delivery times last year doubled from four to six weeks to 11-12. 

Kingfisher's forecast of a long-term trend for home improvements is obviously good news for hirers – not least Speedy, which, as reported earlier on the blog, is trialling in-store implants at, currently, 16 B&Q stores with trade customer facilities. 

And other hirers could benefit, too. If homeowners tackle more ambitious house and garden projects themselves, or get contractors in to do them, they’ll need to hire equipment do get those jobs done. 

With an estimated fifth of the UK workforce still being supported by the furlough scheme (which runs until September), there might be a lot of domestic improvements being done, as many hirers reported last summer. 

And after all, you surely can't sit on your sofa all day.