While Tesco bosses faced a barrage of negative publicity about the devastation a pumped up Tesco Express could wreak on the independent sector, the man at the helm of the Co-operative Group's food retail business has been left to get on with integrating new purchase Alldays in relative peace. His task is formidable. But confidence is running extremely high.
Like-for-like sales uplifts at the first 10 refurbished Alldays stores average almost 40% proof that Alldays' strength in news and tobacco and the Co-operative Group's expertise in chilled and fresh make for a winning combination. Now, armed with this hard evidence, Hepworth has got the thumbs up for a refit programme in which the 600-store Alldays estate will be rebadged under the Welcome banner within three years.
And Hepworth has revealed to The Grocer what else is in store for the Alldays estate. He says: "We're converting 160 more stores this year alone. That's about 20 a month but I am confident we can pull it off."
Prices at Alldays have already been brought down to "more acceptable levels," and from April 28 every Alldays store will start receiving deliveries from the Co-operative Group's ACC chilled fresh and frozen distribution network whether it has been converted to Welcome or not.
This will add more higher margin lines to the mix to offset the impact of reducing prices elsewhere at Alldays, says Hepworth. "This has been a key challenge. We could not keep Alldays prices as high as they were, but we needed to manage margins so that we were not suddenly facing a huge erosion in profitability."
Alldays' Dundee distribution centre will close in the autumn. Purchasing has already been transferred to the CRTG buying group at Manchester, with the last wave of Alldays' buyers leaving in May, he adds.
However, its Eastleigh distribution centre will be retained and integrated into the Co-operative Group's distribution network, and 76 head office staff will stay to operate a support centre handling payroll, IT, the Movie Nights video rental operation and the 30 Alldays franchisees at the enlarged group.
Ironically, when IT boffins on both sides sat down and compared each other's kit, says Hepworth, it quickly emerged that the systems Alldays was preparing to roll out were not only far superior, but significantly cheaper, than those the Co-operative Group was thinking of putting in.
"When it comes to cash management, waste management, chip and pin and euro capability," he says, "Alldays can teach us a thing or two."
On the subject of disposals, still widely expected given the geographical overlap of stores, the society remains tight-lipped.
However, stores will not be sold simply because they are too small, insists Hepworth.
Indeed, plans are well under way for developing a new proposition that will work in smaller stores uncharted territory for the society: "We need to understand the economies at work in these stores what cash you can generate from them."
Besides, expanding not reducing the estate is the top priority: "We are always looking for acquisition opportunities across the country. Alldays doesn't change that."
The biggest challenge ahead however, will be coping with changes at store level, he predicts. "This will put a tremendous amount of pressure on staff. There's already a big recruitment campaign under way for more managers because very different skills are required managing our stores.
"It's all very well for me to sit and talk about my plans, but it's the staff in the stores who must make them work."
{{ANALYSIS }}
Like-for-like sales uplifts at the first 10 refurbished Alldays stores average almost 40% proof that Alldays' strength in news and tobacco and the Co-operative Group's expertise in chilled and fresh make for a winning combination. Now, armed with this hard evidence, Hepworth has got the thumbs up for a refit programme in which the 600-store Alldays estate will be rebadged under the Welcome banner within three years.
And Hepworth has revealed to The Grocer what else is in store for the Alldays estate. He says: "We're converting 160 more stores this year alone. That's about 20 a month but I am confident we can pull it off."
Prices at Alldays have already been brought down to "more acceptable levels," and from April 28 every Alldays store will start receiving deliveries from the Co-operative Group's ACC chilled fresh and frozen distribution network whether it has been converted to Welcome or not.
This will add more higher margin lines to the mix to offset the impact of reducing prices elsewhere at Alldays, says Hepworth. "This has been a key challenge. We could not keep Alldays prices as high as they were, but we needed to manage margins so that we were not suddenly facing a huge erosion in profitability."
Alldays' Dundee distribution centre will close in the autumn. Purchasing has already been transferred to the CRTG buying group at Manchester, with the last wave of Alldays' buyers leaving in May, he adds.
However, its Eastleigh distribution centre will be retained and integrated into the Co-operative Group's distribution network, and 76 head office staff will stay to operate a support centre handling payroll, IT, the Movie Nights video rental operation and the 30 Alldays franchisees at the enlarged group.
Ironically, when IT boffins on both sides sat down and compared each other's kit, says Hepworth, it quickly emerged that the systems Alldays was preparing to roll out were not only far superior, but significantly cheaper, than those the Co-operative Group was thinking of putting in.
"When it comes to cash management, waste management, chip and pin and euro capability," he says, "Alldays can teach us a thing or two."
On the subject of disposals, still widely expected given the geographical overlap of stores, the society remains tight-lipped.
However, stores will not be sold simply because they are too small, insists Hepworth.
Indeed, plans are well under way for developing a new proposition that will work in smaller stores uncharted territory for the society: "We need to understand the economies at work in these stores what cash you can generate from them."
Besides, expanding not reducing the estate is the top priority: "We are always looking for acquisition opportunities across the country. Alldays doesn't change that."
The biggest challenge ahead however, will be coping with changes at store level, he predicts. "This will put a tremendous amount of pressure on staff. There's already a big recruitment campaign under way for more managers because very different skills are required managing our stores.
"It's all very well for me to sit and talk about my plans, but it's the staff in the stores who must make them work."
{{ANALYSIS }}
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