Fact and fiction

Maybe it cannot be said that fact and fiction are close bedfellows in the DIY sector. In the shape of Jayne Seagrave, however, perhaps it is a little different: the successful Canadian entrepreneur has published a novel that has its opening in the setting of the Hardware Show in Las Vegas. The fact that the DIY expert and newly minted novelist also has a doctorate in criminology may have helped in formulating the plot - that much can be said in advance.
Jayne Seagrave's name is likely to be fairly well known beyond the Canadian DIY community, because for a number of years she was on the board of the Worldwide DIY Council, which represents US and Canadian manufacturers, latterly serving as its president. Together with her husband, she runs the Vancouver Tool Corporation and holds the position of marketing director at the company. They produce private label sealant tools for branded American and European retailers.
In parallel with her career, Jayne Seagrave has made a name for herself as an author, having published nine works of non-fiction over the last twenty years. These include "From The Mind To The Marketplace: The Story of an Inventor, The Home Improvement Industry, His Wife and Her Lovers", which details her company's success in selling new, innovative sealant tools around the world. She is a best-selling author in Canada, but up until this year had not written any fiction. Then Covid happened and all that changed. At any rate, her latest work tends to fall into the chic lit category, a genre that focuses on the lives of contemporary young women.

It could perhaps be said that Jayne Seagrave scans a broad horizon that goes beyond her company, and she has something to say. That was a sufficient reason for DIY International to ask her to provide information over how she felt things had changed for her manufacturing company since the beginning of 2020. She lists the following five significant and diverse changes:
Few sales from February to June 2020 and then a huge "bounce back" which meant that 2020 was more profitable for them than 2019. With Covid, everyone staying home and renovating really helped sales.As all Vancouver Tool products are manufactured in Cana-da (they always have been and always will be - they are very proud Canadians) they have not suffered any issues with manufacturing products and responding to customers' needs. No container stuck in the Suez…