SPAR wholesaler Appleby Westward hosted its SPAR South West tradeshow and conference in Sandy Park, Exeter, last week, with presentations from the Directors of the Appleby Westward leadership team, retailer panel discussions with key Wessex Guild Members, SPAR UK representatives and suppliers.
Appleby Westward Managing Director, Mike Boardman, said: “SPAR has been winning in convenience for over 60 years and during this time, retailing has had its challenges. However the convenience sector is going to continue to grow, and the symbol group market will lead it. SPAR is the right place for independent retailers to be and our partnership adds maximum value.
“From a global brand, to industry-leading store designs tailored to local areas and added regional knowledge; independent SPAR retailers benefit from local store knowledge, Appleby Westward, SPAR UK and SPAR International expertise.
“We do more than delivering boxes, there are huge benefits to being in the SPAR South West club. We use our scale, range proposition, payroll and e-learning assistance, our SPAR own label range and local Wessex Guild colleagues to drive the business forward. As industry leaders there is a strong case for independent retailers to join SPAR.”
Last year, SPAR invested nearly £100m across the entire estate and will do the same this year. With several flagship projects on the horizon in 2024, SPAR stated that it will once again raise the bar in convenience retailing in the UK.
Ian Taylor, SPAR UK Retail Director, said: “We have world class retailers and wholesalers, coupled with great partnerships with suppliers that’s enabled us to always rise to any challenge to be at the forefront of the industry. 95% of customers rate our stores as a key driver for consideration – which is great news for us, as we have the best stores in the country.”
Meanwhile, SPAR UK Brand Director, Jamie Seymour, discussed the development and drive to create the best possible selection of SPAR brand products for both retailers and consumers. He said: “SPAR Brand is an estimated £400m brand at retail and includes a unique mix of locally sourced products that add provenance and regional expertise to help us demonstrate our passion for local. We have nationally sourced products available for all regions, and internationally sourced products from SPAR International, allowing us to use local retail on a global scale.”
A further presentation covered ways in which SPAR South West is working towards saving their stores money in other ways, from reducing energy costs through experts in energy management and sustainability, reducing waste costs, new range propositions based on data analysis of consumer chosen products and new time saving technology like Shoplink.
Shoplink was launched for SPAR South West stores at the Tradeshow, with demonstrations of the new system which will be available in all stores by July. The web-based ordering platform is said to be modern and user friendly with a search and add to order system as well as being able to filter and view the full available ranges.
In addition, and as part of SPAR’s retail technology offering, Socio Local, a leading social media tool for retail and hospitality, is helping to drive footfall and sales through professional social media content for all SPAR South West stores.
Presentations were followed by the retailer panel discussion, sharing real-life experiences from independent SPAR retailers. Steve Thomas, Head of Independents at Appleby Westward, said: “The greatest part of our partnership is sharing ideas, knowledge and above all helping each other as a SPAR family.”
The presentations closed with SPAR South West retailers “energised for the summer ahead”.
Over 70 suppliers attended the SPAR South West tradeshow and conference and discussed new products, deals and more with SPAR retailers and store managers before finishing off the day with the evening Awards dinner as well as a fundraising raffle where £4,060 was raised for SPAR’s charity partner Marie Curie.
