B&Q Responds!

B&Q Responds!

9:49 AM, 10th December 2018, About 5 years ago 24

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I sent an email to Veronique Laury, head of the financially beleaguered B&Q telling her we would not use them for the repair and renovation of our property portfolio whilst they supported Shelter

Here is her reply sent by her Customer care manager make of it what you will, but I think they need more opaque paint for whitewashing!

Dear Mr,

Thank you for your recent email to Veronique Laury and Graham Bell and for sharing your concerns about our partnership with Shelter, which we have raised with them.

At B&Q and Kingfisher, we believe everyone should have a home that they can feel good about and recognise that this is not the case for many people. As a business, we are supporting charities which support this ambition and focus on those most in need of our help. As the leading UK wide charity tackling poor housing and homelessness, we believe that Shelter is the right national organisation for us to work with.

Although Shelter doesn’t provide housing directly, their expert advice can stop a family becoming homeless in the first place – and is also vital in helping people get back on their feet, if the worst happens and they lose their home. Shelter helps millions of people through their expert advice and support.

From our discussions with them, we know that Shelter recognises that the vast majority of landlords are good landlords. They actively work with landlords and the professional landlord bodies to come up with solutions which work for landlords and tenants – for example, giving advice to tenants on how to look after a property so they get their deposits back or in campaigning to unfreeze the local housing allowance.

Our support of Shelter funds a team of DIY Skills Advisers. By offering guidance on basic DIY skills, they support families to settle into a new property after a period of homelessness and help those at risk of homelessness to stay in their current home. So far, they have supported over 500 families to be safer and secure in their homes. We regularly review the impact our partnership is having and are happy with how Shelter is using the funds that we donate

Thank you again for sharing your concerns. We hope you will reconsider your decision not to shop in B&Q anymore. Thank you for your custom so far.

Yours sincerely,

Jane Walker, B&Q Executive Customer Care Manager

 

Roger


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Comments

Dennis Leverett

12:35 PM, 10th December 2018, About 5 years ago

Join the club
Dear Mr Leverett,

Thank you for your recent email to Veronique Laury and for sharing your concerns about our partnership with Shelter, which we have raised with them.

At Kingfisher we believe everyone should have a home that they can feel good about and recognise that this is not the case for many people. As a business, we are supporting charities which support this ambition and focus on those most in need of our help. As the leading UK wide charity tackling poor housing and homelessness, we believe that Shelter is the right national organisation for us to work with.

Although Shelter doesn’t provide housing directly, their expert advice can stop a family becoming homeless in the first place - and is also vital in helping people get back on their feet, if the worst happens and they lose their home. Shelter helps millions of people through their expert advice and support.

From our discussions with them, we know that Shelter recognises that the vast majority of landlords are good landlords. They actively work with landlords and the professional landlord bodies to come up with solutions which work for landlords and tenants – for example, giving advice to tenants on how to look after a property so they get their deposits back or in campaigning to unfreeze the local housing allowance.

Our support of Shelter funds a team of DIY Skills Advisers. By offering guidance on basic DIY skills, they support families to settle into a new property after a period of homelessness and help those at risk of homelessness to stay in their current home. So far, they have supported over 500 families to be safer and secure in their homes. Our funding also supports Shelter’s frontline services. We regularly review the impact our partnership is having and are happy with how Shelter is using the funds that we donate.

We hope you will reconsider your decision not to shop in B&Q anymore. Thank you for your custom so far.

Yours sincerely

Jane Walker, B&Q Executive Customer Care Manager

Dennis Leverett

12:45 PM, 10th December 2018, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Paul Kaye at 10/12/2018 - 11:02
I worked there for 6 months a few years ago due to a sudden change in circumstances, in the kitchens section and could not believe how badly run the whole place was especially with stock losses. I agree about abusive behavior to staff, it was terrible. They certainly are not the cheapest.

Harry Albert Lettings & Estates

13:45 PM, 10th December 2018, About 5 years ago

I received the exact same email word for word when I emailed them to advise that we're now using Wickes as our preferred supplier of materials and we have informed our contractors that we will no longer work with them if they continue to use B&Q.

But yes, copy and paste at its finest it seems.

TheMaluka

14:10 PM, 10th December 2018, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Harry Albert Lettings & Estates at 10/12/2018 - 13:45
You are fortunate, I did not receive a reply of any sort.

Annie Landlord

15:59 PM, 10th December 2018, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Freda Blogs at 10/12/2018 - 12:01
Wouldn't want a tenant to 'alter' a property (that sounds structural!) but I do expect them to redecorate when necessary and to do minor repairs. Tenants moving into social housing have much more flexibility in what they do, so learning some diy skills would be very helpful

ahloughlin@gmail.com

16:34 PM, 10th December 2018, About 5 years ago

Add me to the list. Shelter are a disgusting bunch of prats.

Larry Sweeney

18:18 PM, 10th December 2018, About 5 years ago

Jan 2019, The Alliance website will list alternate suppliers. We are currently talking to other landlord associations all over the country about escalating our boycott. Forget the NLA/RLA , they have zero credibility.

Gromit

7:55 AM, 11th December 2018, About 5 years ago

"They actively work with landlords and the professional landlord bodies to come up with solutions which work for landlords and tenants...."

This is not true! Shelter actively work against Landlords. B&Q have been hoodwinked by the specious rhetoric put out by Shelters PR machine.

Annie Landlord

14:42 PM, 11th December 2018, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Gromit at 11/12/2018 - 07:55
I think it unlikely that the Kingfisher Group has been hoodwinked by anybody. They have just chosen a well known charity, as all large stores/organisations do, to enhance their public image.
What happens next year if B&Q's chosen charity changes to Macmillan and Toolstation's becomes Shelter?

Gromit

16:12 PM, 11th December 2018, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Annie Landlord at 11/12/2018 - 14:42
Just giving B&Q the benefit of the the doubt.

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