PURCHASING POWER Working for United Norwest has been far more interesting than any job Tony Smith, head of Food Division finance, has ever had. The United Norwest strategy of constant acquisition, added to its indepth store analysis systems, keeps the finance department busy. Smith's team covers the whole gamut of financial roles, from analysing the sales data of individual stores to assessing the worth of potential purchases. United Norwest, says Smith, is ahead of its competition. For a start, few convenience store retailers have the understanding of sales at "product level" that United Norwest has established. "Our systems mean we really use the EPoS data to understand such things as leakage and wastage, and to know sales of products at an item level," Smith says. "Without good systems, collating that information is difficult." A promotion can be carefully monitored to find out its effect on sales, he says, helping it understand what works. "In our new Food Market store in Ramsbottom, for example, we're competing effectively against Kwik Save next door," Smith adds. "From the information we've gathered, we know that customers are buying their no frills' products from Kwik Save and then coming to us for the fresh food. "What we want to do is win all that business, so now we're looking into different campaigns and watching what works. What's the cost of competing on bread or milk and cheese?" On the acquisition side, Smith's team looks at potential purchases and decides what is worth buying. "We have to present a case to the society's top management just as though we are going for a bank loan," he says. "We have to say why this store is a good choice and what money we expect we can make from it." Smith will send in staff to look at a business and work out its potential opportunities and risks. Benchmarking United Norwest's performance against its competitors is also a critical part of the finance team's role. "You never know how well you're doing until you compare with outside," he says. {{Z SUPPLEMENTS }}