Martin McColl has changed its name to McColl’s in what it called “yet another milestone” on its journey to becoming a convenience-led operator.
Martin McColl Retail Group has been renamed McColl’s Retail Group with immediate effect, The Grocer can reveal.
The retailer said the new name better reflected its strategic direction. Although it started out as a CTN operator, it has been steadily converting its shops into convenience stores.
“This is yet another milestone for the group since we embarked on our strategy of becoming a convenience-led operator”
James Lancaster, McColl’s
This June, it revealed that the number of convenience stores in its estate had overtaken CTNs for the first time - with 671 convenience stores operating under the McColl’s fascia and 595 newsagents operating under the Martin’s fascia, or RS McColl in Scotland.
The retailer also confirmed in June that it had secured a new five-year contract with Nisa to supply 330 of its c-stores, as revealed by The Grocer in March. It chose Nisa for its wide range of fresh and chilled foods offer, as well as its Heritage own-label range.
Chairman and chief executive James Lancaster said the continuing conversion of newsagents to its Food and wine format, selling a range of grocery and alcohol, together with the ongoing acquisition of new and existing convenience stores, meant the group was on track to reach its target of 800 c-stores by 2015. Convenience stores also now accounted for 70% of its total sales.
“This is yet another milestone for the group since we embarked on our strategy of becoming a convenience-led operator,” Lancaster added. “As a group, we feel the McColl’s brand more accurately reflects the direction in which we are going and further raises our profile in the sector.”
Martin McColl reported a 48% increase in pre-tax profits to £6.3m on sales up 5% to £844.7m in the year to 25 November 2012.
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