Parfetts Cash & Carry is centralising its buying in order to improve customer service and availability in its depots.
The wholesaler has taken over the buying functions for all six branches in its Stockport HQ. This means all order placements are now the responsibility of the head office trading team, with the exception of short date departments and cigarettes.
Butchery will still be available in all depots but will be distributed from the Halifax and Somercotes depots and is overseen by new foodservice managers.
“The structure of the business has served the company well for 35 years but it is now inappropriate for our future plans,” said joint MD Greg Suszczenia. “The key levers have changed greatly in recent years, particularly with the growth of our Go Local symbol group, click & collect and now with our exciting new delivered Go Local Direct project (Gold). This is the right time to realign in order to facilitate the migration of our business from traditional cash & carries to local business hubs.”
The restructure has resulted in the loss of 29 positions at the depot, but Parfetts said it had also created some new positions at head office and in depots. The senior management structure of each depot now includes general managers, operational managers, supply chain managers and supply chain administrators, all with direct communication to the HO Trading department. The wholesaler is now actively recruiting for these roles.
Operations director Andy Whitworth explained Parfetts was also working to improve the customer experience. It is aiming to make the depot reception area “the heart of the depot” with all senior depot staff based there.
It is also opening up the cigarette areas to customers, allowing them to browse and interact more freely.
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