DIY giant Bunnings is branching out further into making and selling prefabricated walls and roof trusses, ramping up its investment in local manufacturing as it looks beyond pure hardware retail.
“They’re time poor, they need efficiency - it is harder and harder to get skilled labour on site, and it’s getting more expensive,” the chief operating officer of Bunnings’ commercial business, Ben McIntosh, said. Earnings growth at Bunnings came in at just 1.2 per cent for the 2023 financial year, hitting $2.3 billion, but Wesfarmers boss Rob Scott and Bunnings chief executive Mike Schneider
However, Bunnings has a bullish view of the long-term housing outlook. The retailer has been steadily rolling out a “whole of build” strategy recently, focused on delivering more service to commercial and trade customers.