Parfetts Birmingham: a look inside the wholesaler’s southernmost depot

Last week, Parfetts opened its new 100,000 sq ft Birmingham cash & carry. Its eighth depot is also its furthest south and looks set to be a staging post for the Stockport-based wholesaler’s national ambitions.

The new unit, which is situated on an industrial estate in the Tyseley area of the city, opened for business on 22 March. It stocks a narrower range of around 7,000 SKUs when compared with an average of around 11,000 across the larger depots in the estate. 

The business says this slimmed-down range is focused on products which are “actually relevant to retailers now”, and makes the depot more efficient to shop and pick from.

By the depot entrance is a vast square showcase area for promotional stock, framed with digital screens at the end of the aisles behind. The wholesaler says this area is where it plans to host its supplier takeovers, with the digital screens allowing it to promote brands with key messaging.

The screens extend right across the entire payment area, providing an additional space for advertising promotional offers.

Next to the payment area is a direct load facility – one way in which Parfetts says the customer experience is being aided. When shifting larger volumes with a customer, who may have multiple trolleys, goods can be placed on the loading rollers and transferred directly onto the vehicle. This cuts down waiting times significantly and removes additional work for the retailer. 

“Direct load has been incredibly popular across our existing estate so naturally we decided we wanted it here,” says Parfetts joint MD Guy Swindell.

“The cash & carry has been purpose-built for flow in terms of the customer experience, from the moment our retailers enter the car park to the sign-in desk to the checkout.”

Also at the front of the depot is a well-proportioned tobacco room featuring all the major brands, and a large area dedicated to chilled goods where milk and cheese products are prominently displayed.

The business has also invested in the retailer experience by providing on-site catering by the depot entrance. The British-Asian fusion café called Chill & Chai is being run by convenience retailers Suhki and Jandip Johal, who also run a catering business.

The café offers a range of British and Indian food including cooked breakfast, jacket potatoes, paratha and samosas. It’s another way in which the business says it is listening to and serving its community.

The wholesaler believes it is well located to attract business from across the city and beyond, with new customers already registering from as far away as Coventry.

“A lot of our competitors are towards the centre of the city, so you might have to cross into the congestion charge zone to get to them,” says Swindell. “But with us there’s easy access from all areas.”

It does face competition from a Bestway depot next door, but Parfetts feels its up-to-date facilities and competitive prices will help it stand out from the crowd.

“We’ve done everything we can to meet retailer needs and provide a high-quality experience,” says Swindell.

So far, it has employed 68 people at the site, including an experienced senior team with a cash & carry background.

“We’ve got a really good team. John Griffin the general manager has been a cash & carry man for 30 years. He knows the area and a lot of the customers. So we’re really targeting that friendly ‘best in class’ customer experience,” says Swindell.

“Our staff have the autonomy to do what’s right for this depot. The ambition is to be national, but we’re very much focused on the local too. Ultimately the manager has the autonomy to make local decisions without having to come up the chain.”

Parfetts may be focused primarily on making sure the new Birmingham depot is successful, but it isn’t shy about its national ambitions. The business already has over 1,000 Go Local stores across the country, and plans to double that number as it gains a foothold in the Midlands.

“This gives us a springboard to look beyond Birmingham when the time is right,” says Swindell. “We’re fully focused on the cash & carry operation here and driving footfall through the branch, but eventually it will allow us to venture further south.

“We’re confident in the continued national expansion. We’ve been hitting around 200 stores a year so we would hope we’d reach 2,000 in under five years given the investment into the team.”