Bestway Retail has announced the removal of a fuel levy charge (previously set at £3.66 per delivery) for all Costcutter stores to help owners who are facing a hike in costs in the coming months.
The group has also announced an investment of more than £2.5m to reduce the cost price of more than 11,000 best-selling branded products across all categories. The company stated that the move would enable its retailers to make more margin and help them maintain their competitiveness against the large multiple convenience operators.
Dawood Pervez, Managing Director for Bestway Wholesale, noted that both initiatives were all about supporting retailers ahead of the increases in the minimum wage and national insurance contributions set for April.
“After Brexit came Covid, and now we have increases to national insurance and national living wage thresholds coming into play. There’s no question this will impact retailers at a point when it’s clear that consumers will have less money in their pockets due to continuing inflation and slower-than-anticipated reductions in interest rates,” he said.
“We’ve listened to our retailers as to what is most important to them and are looking to the months’ ahead and the challenges that they face – and we’re acting now to invest in their future. In 2024, we paid out over £10m in rebates to Costcutter retailers; therefore we want to ensure that everyone is maximising the full benefit of this profit-driving scheme.
“It doesn’t stop there. Our vision for 2025 is to continue to co-invest in retailers’ businesses via refits and store modernisation plans.
“We’re also embracing the New Year with fresh investment in a wider sense to support growth both for our retailers and our own business. This includes a focus on our leadership team through investing in people, investment in leading-edge technology and services, and through working closely with our supply partners to maintain the competitive edge that we are proud to offer our customers”.
Pervez concluded: “We’re 100% committed to our loyal retailers’ success and believe that ‘together we are stronger’ if we face the challenges the industry is experiencing with a shared approach.”
NAM Implications:
- Hopefully there is a price level that will tempt shoppers back.
- And brave are those that are prepared (and can afford) to test the limits.
- Rivals will watch this Bestway initiative…
