Wholesaler JW Filshill has completed its relocation to a purpose-built distribution centre and head office at Westway Park near Glasgow Airport.
The £5m move is part of its goal to hit £350m turnover by February 2031 and follows last year’s acquisition of the independent wholesale business Iain Hill Ltd.
Chief Executive Simon Hannah said that the new 120,400 sq. ft. depot will now enable the group to increase its operational capacity and open more stores in Scotland and northern England. The business currently supplies 216 KeyStore convenience stores across the region, plus national accounts, including the Scottish Prison Service. It also has 1,600 independent customers.
Its initial targets (in the year to February 2024) are to sign up around 30 new KeyStores, increase turnover from £200m (2022) to £219m, deliver 11 million cases of product (10.5 million last year), and achieve 95% deliveries on time and 95% availability (an improvement from 93% for each KPI last year).
The wholesaler has also refreshed its KeyStore branding, which now features on five of its vehicles and two KeyStore shops, with a plan to roll this out to other stores over the next few years. The new KeyStore branding will also appear on the Filshill website, which will be relaunched in July.
Commenting on the new premises and its importance to the company’s growth plans, Hannah said: “Operating out of these bespoke premises, which have been designed to our exact specification as part of our 10-year growth strategy, will improve our efficiency and productivity as we invest in the long-term success of the company, protect future revenue streams and increase customer satisfaction.
“We are an award-winning wholesaler with ambitious growth plans, and our new distribution centre puts us in an ideal position to achieve our ambitions, expand the KeyStore estate, and work in partnership with our customers and suppliers for mutual benefit.”
