B&Q Responds!

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