Overview

RMS have enjoyed a longstanding relationship with Kingfisher and B&Q that has seen our partnership develop and endure over the past 13 years.

On a regular basis RMS supports B&Q with day-to-day merchandising and installation services and retail change projects to ensure that the stores are well stocked and customer ready and keeping up with changing retail trends, as well as supporting works for new stores, concept stores and reformat works.

The aim of the Plumbing Neutron project was to implement a new updated range of plumbing products across 96 B&Q stores to ensure the range provided to customers falls in line with their needs and the latest market trends and products available. It was important to get the implementation right across each of the stores we supported, whilst ensuring we completed each store to timescale to minimise any disruption to customers and sales.

RMS supported the project from start to finish with:

• Phasing plans and pre-programme planning activity
• Project management
• Installation of HD racking, shelving and new point of sale
• Planogram and shop floor relocation changes
• Merchandising
• Electrical installation

We deployed a skilled team of merchandisers, installers and electricians to complete the retail change plan across the stores.

Approach 

We commenced planning in advance of the project to produce phasing plans for all stores to ensure we had every equipment move, layout change and planogram change fully understood so that we could be confident we would be able to successfully execute the change plan in the given timeframe. 

Our project management team ran engagement video meetings with all the stores involved in the project two weeks before their store work start date to ensure that each store was involved and engaged in the Neutron project and understood the work that would be carried out by RMS.

The project work itself involved a total change of retail display equipment, with some shelving and racking to be moved and some new display equipment to be installed. In every store there was a new layout to implement along with new planograms to display the new range of plumbing products.

Our installation teams were able to successfully dismantle and assemble all display equipment including HD racking and shelving, whilst our merchandisers were able to support with de-merchandising of stock, implementing new planograms and products and ensuring all of the correct point of sale was sited.

We also supported the retail change plan with our team of electrical installers who went into several of the stores to move electrical points, fire points and wires and sprinkler systems, so that the electrical installation in store aligned with the new display layouts.

We successfully completed each store within a one week window across 5 night shifts to minimise trading disruption.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Challenges

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The main challenge throughout the duration of the project was to ensure that the complex phasing and racking rebuilds along with the merchandising to new planograms was completed in exactly the right order. This was necessary to ensure no time delays to the plan of getting each store fully completed within a week. 

Our teams rose to the challenge and all project completion landed within the agreed timeframe and original costings, with above average completion standards.

Conclusion 

The final outcome was a successfully executed project, with all stores completed in the originally agreed timeframe and cost. We were also thrilled to be the highest rated retail support partner, scoring the B&Q benchmark of ‘Exceeding Expectations’ more than any other retail support partner, which is a testament to the hard work and dedication of both the in store teams and the project management team.

“By running engagement video meetings with all the stores prior to the project rollout, it led to some great feedback from the stores to the teams on site and really helped the project to run smoothly. 

We have built up some great relationships with stores that we have visited a number of times on different projects through our engagement, correspondence and willingness to help when needed.”

Jonathan Bridges, Project Assistant.