John Lewis expanding its home improvement business

British department store John Lewis & Partners is expanding its home improvement offer by bringing together two businesses, Home Solutions and Opun.

Home Solutions allows customers to source and book trusted tradespeople for a range of home improvement services. It currently operates within JLP Ventures. Opun, which manages large-scale home improvement projects, was acquired by the John Lewis Partnership in June 2018 and has been operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary.

“Last year’s acquisition of Opun demonstrated our ambition in the home services market and today’s announcement marks a critical next step as we look to strengthen and grow our services business. Bringing the teams together is an exciting opportunity to work collaboratively, share knowledge and collectively learn in the fast-paced home improvement market and create opportunities for growth,” said Sean Allam, partner & director, Services, at John Lewis & Partners.

“Joining the John Lewis Partnership has been an exciting move for Opun, especially now we are combining with Home Solutions. We know the two businesses stand for the same values – putting customers first and delivering a world-class service. We know there are great opportunities which exist in the home improvement market so it’s exciting to be stepping into the next phase as one business,” added Rod Brown, co-founder, Opun.

By bringing Home Solutions and Opun together, John Lewis is keen to offer customers an end-to-end home improvement service, including inspiration, design, project management and execution. This is also part of John Lewis’ strategy to expand beyond online and offline channels.