The Wholesale Group, the buying group recently formed by bringing together Confex and Fairway Foodservice, has added 11 new members in the year to date.
The new members, which have bolstered the group’s turnover to £4.52bn, span both retail and foodservice. The Wholesale Group now covers 257 depots, which represents more than 13.7% of the total UK wholesale market.
The new recruits include Café Deli in Croydon, McCartney Foodservice in Boston, Consort Frozen Foods in Burgess Hill, and Ewood Foods in Accrington.
“The Wholesale Group continues to go from strength to strength since its inception at the beginning of the year,” said Tom Gittins, joint managing director.
“We firmly believed that the formation of a buying group centred around service and focused on independent wholesalers would create a growth platform for the future, and wholesalers have responded with 11 new members choosing to join us in our first few weeks.”
Stephen Sutcliffe, owner of Ewood Foods, added: “As part of the group, we are looking forward to collaborating with other like-minded family wholesale businesses, and we welcome the opportunity to further future-proof our business with the group’s bespoke digital marketing support, powerful own-brand range and the access it provides to more than 400 supplier partners.
“The huge benefits offered by the group, including a share of the profits and no membership fees, meant that it was an easy decision to make for our future success.”
The 11 new members will attend The Wholesale Group’s first trade show in Cheltenham on 20 March 2025.
Gittins said: “It is clear that independent family wholesale is thriving and has found a true home with The Wholesale Group. We remain the only buying group with no membership fees and a share of the profit for every member – a unique selling point which has proved to be compelling in the current market.”
