Selco Builders Warehouse has opened its 17th branch in London on Old Kent Road, continuing their expansion programme during difficult trading times in the building material supply sector.

Selco managing director Chris Cunliffe said: “It is down to the efforts of all our colleagues that we have been able to open the branch on schedule. The harsh weather over the winter didn’t make it easy, but they took it all in their stride and pulled together to ensure the opening went ahead as planned.

“The opening of Old Kent Road is part of our ongoing strategy to expand our branch network, despite the difficult trading conditions in our sector. The fact that we can continue with our ambitious growth plans is a credit to all our colleagues and management team who work tirelessly to ensure we meet our commitment to delivering great value building supplies and unrivalled service to even more customers.”

Mr Cunliffe recently handed over the keys to branch manager, Darrell Carter, who joined him in praising colleagues for their commitment, dedication and hard work to ensure a successful opening week of trading.

Mr Carter says: “The opening of the new branch has created more than 50 new jobs and in line with our company’s policy we have been able to fill every position with people from local community. This ensures that local and knowledgeable staff are always able to assist customers with their enquiries while providing local economic benefit.”

During the official opening, customers were able to take part in a 9-dart-challenge, courtesy of Leyland Paints who bought along Premier League darts star Simon ‘The Wizard’ Whitlock. Customers were challenged to score more with nine darts than Simon could with six, with on-the-spot-prizes up for grabs. The overall highest score on the day received a dart board signed by ‘The Wizard’ Simon Whitlock and fellow professional darts player ‘The Spider’ Mark Webster.

Representatives from Macmillan Cancer Support, Selco’s nominated charity, were also on hand to collect donations from generous customers. Mr Cunliffe also took the opportunity to hand over a cheque to the charity resulting from the company’s fundraising efforts this year.

Mr Cunliffe concluded: “Customers at the new branch will benefit from Selco’s three guarantees that underpin our entire offering, which are unrivalled availability with the widest range of products in stock, excellent customer service and straight trade pricing.”

The Old Kent Road Selco branch will offer an extensive range of building materials, with over 15,000 products readily available in stock, kitchen and bathroom showroom displays and a special / direct order facility for any specific requirements our customers may have.

As with all Selco branches, there will be an in-branch cafe, trade counter services, direct-to-site delivery options and van size parking spaces, all designed to make it easier for tradesman to get onto the job as soon as possible.