B&Q has unveiled a sustainability-focused flagship store in Cheltenham as it tests new ways to help shoppers make greener choices across home improvement and gardening.

The company introduced new in-store displays, product zones and customer advice points across multiple departments, with learnings from the store expected to inform future rollouts across its estate.

The Cheltenham store is designed to make lower-impact products and services easier to understand, from electric vehicle chargers and solar panels to insulation, heat pumps, water-saving garden products and refurbished tools.

B&Q head of sustainability Sam Dyer said the retailer wanted to show customers “how to create more sustainable homes”, noting that household emissions remain a major part of the UK’s carbon footprint.

Close to the entrance, the retailer has installed a house-style display that breaks sustainability projects down into practical areas of the home.

The first zone focuses on electrification, including EV chargers, solar panels and home batteries that can be charged at cheaper overnight rates.

A second area covers heating, including boilers, heat pumps, smart heating controls and air conditioning units.

The third focuses on insulation, including loft insulation, cavity walls, energy-efficient windows and doors designed to reduce draughts.

B&Q is also using the store to highlight third-party partnerships with companies including BOXT, Octopus Energy and Speedy Hire.

The Octopus Energy area is designed to explain energy tariffs and smart charging, while BOXT supports products such as rooftop solar panels, batteries and heat pumps.

Speedy Hire runs the store’s tool hire offer, covering around 170 to 200 SKUs including drills, cement mixers and circular saws.

B&Q has also added a refurbished power tools section with around 200 SKUs, with products sold at around 20 per cent less than new equivalents.

The retailer has introduced blue signage across the store to identify more sustainable product areas and give shoppers clearer advice on steps they can take to cut waste, save energy or reduce environmental impact.

The Cheltenham branch has been selected as the retailer’s sustainability flagship because it is already one of B&Q’s greener stores.

It is powered by more than 200 rooftop solar panels and uses smart LED lighting with movement sensors, which dim when no customers or colleagues are nearby.

The store also features an expanded recycling station where customers can return small electricals, batteries, fluorescent tubes, light bulbs, plastic plant pots, garden equipment, soft plastics and decorating waste.

In the paint department, B&Q is shifting more of its own-brand range towards lower-VOC paints and is running a seven-store trial for unwanted paint returns, with the aim of learning whether it can eventually support paint recycling at scale.

The garden centre has also been given a sustainability push, with a dedicated installation showing shoppers how to improve drainage, soil quality and biodiversity.

The display includes advice on pollinator plants, ponds, bird homes, edible growing, composting, water saving and solar power in the garden.

B&Q horticulture buying manager Mark Sage said around 94 per cent of the retailer’s plant sales now come from its own-brand Verve range, which adheres to B&Q’s sustainability requirements.

The retailer has also removed black plastic from its plant pots to improve recyclability and is trialling a plant pot recycling scheme across 50 stores.

B&Q’s wider sustainability commitments include making all new own-brand plants peat-free this year, after previously removing peat-based bagged compost from its range.

The retailer is also targeting 67 per cent of sales from products that are lower impact in manufacture or help customers reduce the environmental impact of home improvement by 2027.

For B&Q, the Cheltenham store is not just a one-off showcase.

The retailer will track which displays, product areas and messages change customer behaviour before deciding which elements to introduce elsewhere.

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