Nisa has posted strong half-year trading figures thanks to its new contract with convenience store chain McColl’s.
The retail buying group said sales rose 6.1% to £770m in the six months to 30 September.
Nisa secured a deal to supply 330 of McColl’s larger c-stores in June following a trial earlier in the year. Last week, McColl’s chairman and CEO James Lancaster told The Grocer he was “very pleased” with the move, which has seen the introduction of an extended chilled and fresh offer, as well as Nisa’s own-label range Heritage.
Nisa also revealed that its volumes rose 10% to 61 million cases during the period and hit record levels three separate times over the six months - including the July heatwave when retailers contacted The Grocer to complain about “horrendous delivery problems”.
Recruiting new members to its symbol group, as well as encouraging existing members to buy more goods through Nisa, had also helped boost sales, it said.
Describing the results as “extremely positive”, finance director Simon Webster said: “This continues to enforce the extremely strong position Nisa is in as it goes through a significant period of change.”
Nisa also announced it is to introduce fixed three-hour delivery slots for its ambient deliveries from January. Currently, members are told the day before what time their delivery will arrive.
The move would cost Nisa between £800,000 and £1.4m a year, but would help its members be more competitive, said distribution director Jonathan Stowe.
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