Henderson Retail, which now operates 96 company-owned stores grew significantly in 2019, acquiring six new stores during the year. An additional 11 new stores were opened under the EUROSPAR, SPAR and ViVO brands by independent retailers.

The figure demonstrates a total growth of 7.6% on the previous year, with like for like sales growth of 3.9% driven by a strong performance in grocery sales. The Group also noted footfall and basket spend in their network of stores showing strong growth also.

Ron Whitten, Chief Financial Officer at Henderson Group says these figures represent the end of a three year strategic plan which has brought benefits to every area of the business; “Since 2017, we have focused on delivering excellence in customer service, investing in our people, developing our information systems, maximising our operational efficiency, enhancing our fresh food ranges and improving our in-store proposition.”

Mr Whitten added that this strategy laid the foundations to deal with the uncertainties of Brexit and COVID-19 going into 2020; “We have had a challenging trading year in 2020, with our Foodservice company having to make redundancies due to the effect of the Pandemic, alongside a negative impact on fuel sales, as a result of fewer cars on the road due to lockdowns and restrictions. However, shoppers have appreciated the measures taken to provide a safe shopping experience which has been witnessed in increased basket spend and overall growth in retail grocery sales, offsetting the foodservice and fuel declines.”

“Continual Investment has always been a key strategy to the success of our business,” shares Patrick Doody, Sales and Marketing Director at Henderson Group. “Thanks to a growth in group sales in 2019 and 2020 to date, we have been able to negotiate this challenging and unprecedented year with confidence, to ensure our retailers and shoppers are safe and secure. We will have invested over £3m in reducing retail prices by the end of 2020, as well as spending over £1m in store safety measures such as directional signage, sanitiser stations, screens and door control measures.”

Mr Doody continued with a positive outlook on the challenges of this year; “We remain cautiously optimistic as we negotiate COVID and Brexit. It is absolutely imperative we avoid a ‘no-deal’ Brexit and the ensuing disruption to the supply chain and potential increase in food prices due to new tariffs. We will continue to invest with our local retailers and dedicated support to our local agri-food industry.”

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Graham’s and Scott’s Bakery are regular suppliers to SPAR, EUROSPAR and VIVO branded stores in Northern Ireland since 1990 and 2004 respectively, and started working with the company to create speciality products for the enjoy local bakery brand in 2018, Henderson’s own-brand range of muffins, traybakes and cakes which launched last year.

Extended range

Since then, the range has been extended and is now expected to exceed £2.1m in retail sales, four times the rate of the first half of 2019, thereby enabling Henderson Wholesale to invest further in its local suppliers.

Graham’s family bakery in Dromore has made a significant investment in its facilities and created six new jobs to keep up with orders, while Scott’s Bakery in Fivemiletown has created three new roles thanks to its contract. Daily Bake in Armagh and Holme’s Bakery in Portadown also supply to the range.

Local suppliers

Eamon Taggart, Trading Manager at Henderson Group says this was the aim for its local suppliers when they launched the range; “enjoy local bakery started with six products over a year ago, we added 22 more in 2019, and thanks to the excellence of the bakers we work with, we’ve been able to expand to 42 products giving even more choice and value for our retailers and shoppers.

“We have now launched 12 new products including mini sponge cakes and individual tarts which create a handmade coffee shop experience at home, an indulgent cupcake platter and new seasonal toffee apple muffins that always taste great as we transition into autumn from the summer. The beloved NI traybake also has two new slices; salted caramel pecan slices and cranberry caramel slices.”

Enjoy local

The additions bring the entire enjoy local range of fresh meat, poultry, soups, bread, cheese and salads to a total of 139 products from 20 local suppliers across the island of Ireland.

The suppliers to the range are also supporting SPAR and EUROSPAR NI’s Pick Me Up Picnic initiative throughout August that encourages shoppers to throw out their blankets and safely host a picnic to fundraise for the stores’ charity partners, Marie Curie and Cancer Fund for Children.

Eamon continued; “when shoppers pick up any cake product from the enjoy local bakery range until 20 September, 10p will be donated from our suppliers and Henderson Wholesale to the charities. We’re delighted to be part of the campaign that will help those organisations and their service users that have been adversely affected by the Coronavirus pandemic.”

The post Local bakers grow as supply to wholesaler increases with range expansion first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.