Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
DIY shed chain B&Q is launching an insulation promotion this weekend which will see it selling rolls at 89p each.
The promotion will run from Friday, February 19 to Monday, February 22. Triple packs of B&Q’s own-brand DIY loft insulation will sell for £2.50 – just 89p a roll.
The deal is partly financed by British Gas, under the government’s CERT (Carbon Emission Reduction Target) initiative. This time last year, B&Q sparked an industry-wide furore about CERT-funded insulation deals which are paid for by the energy companies when it sold insulation at £1 a roll in a similar promotion.
Focus DIY followed suit, sparking a loft insulation price war. The following month, both retailers slashed the price of Knauf’s Space Blanket loft insulation, with Focus running a four-day ‘buy one, get three free’ promotion.
The price war was criticised by the Builders’ Merchants Federation (BMF) and described as ‘loss leading’. BMF said that, while the deal was aimed at homeowners, there was nothing to stop tradesmen from stocking up on the cut-price insulation, leaving merchants struggling to shift their stock.
