Archive of all Spar articles – Page 29
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Sparring partners
Peter Miller and Susan Darbyshire tell Liz Hamson about their bold strategy to reinvent and re-energise the Spar offer. Behind the unassuming facade of Spar's central office in Harrow, two people have been quietly staging a revolution....
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Under-performers fall foul of purge
Spar retailer Waynes Foods has purged itself of under-performing store managers among its 110 shops in a bid to improve standards.The company, ranked fifth in The Grocer’s Top 50 league of independent retailers, has now launched a recruitment...
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Game on for Spar lottery
Spar has become the first retail chain to come up with UK-wide National Lottery Scratchcard games as part of an initiative by Camelot to develop closer relationships with retailers.Mon£y Spinn£r, which goes on sale on April 10, offers a £9,000...
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Community stores strive to keep Post Office local
Community retailers are tearing to the rescue of flailing local post offices by boosting franchise partnerships and in-store operations.Spar Scotland wholesaler CJ Lang said it wanted to be the saviour of the local post office as it revealed...
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More stores for Spar in Ireland
Spar has announced a €90m expansion drive in the Irish Republic, which will add 40 new stores to its network this year and create 500 more jobs.The franchise owner, BWG, will invest in the expansion, but most of the funding will come from...
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McWhinney’s adieu to Henderson Wholesale
Ken McWhinney, the deputy managing director and group corporate development director of Spar’s Northern Ireland wholesaler Henderson Wholesale, is to retire.A spokeswoman for Henderson Group said that McWhinney, who joined in 1976 after 11...
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Tesco could overtake Spar in convenience
Tesco could overtake Spar in the £44.1bn convenience store sector next year, according to a Verdict report, putting it first in that market as it is in the supermarket sector.The study, entitled Neighbourhood Retailing 2006, claims Tesco’s...
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Henderson relishes its c-store tussle with Tesco
The battle for control of Northern Ireland’s c-store market is heating up this month.Tesco is set to open its second Express store in the province on Monday (November 14) and Martin Agnew, MD of Henderson Wholesale, which supplies the Spar and...
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Walters promoted to board at Capper & Co
South Wales-based Spar wholesaler Capper & Co has promoted Bryan Walters to its executive board as sales director designate.Walters, who was previously retail sales controller for the Eastern region, becomes responsible for the independent...
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Magners pushing into retail
Irish cider brand Magners is planning a massive push into the off-trade after a successful launch in pubs.The drink will initially be available through Morrisons, Spar and selected Asdas, as well as independent off-licences. It will be...
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Irish chance to buy
More than 130 retailers in the Irish Republic are being offered the chance to buy or lease the stores they operate under the Spar franchise, owned by the BWG Group. A group subsidiary, Newhill Limited, owns the 150 outlets involved, mainly in the...
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BP connects to the future
BP is embarking on a new strategy for its Connect forecourt stores with a formula that it believes convenience operators such as Tesco and Spar will be unable to replicate. The first strand of the strategy will be revealed when the oil giant...
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Evans is appointed MD of AF Blakemore & Son
Dennis Evans has been appointed managing director for Spar distribution business AF Blakemore & Son.Evans joins Blakemore from Somerfield, where he was regional director responsible for managing the retail operations of 132 stores in...
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BWG likely to buy Irish Iceland stores
BWG Holdings, owner of the Spar franchise, is seen as the most likely buyer of some of Iceland’s Irish stores, after the company’s decision to close down operations in the Republic because of continuing losses.Seven outlets – six in Dublin and...
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Bank Machine takes over Spar ATM contract
ATM operator Bank Machine has ousted Moneybox as Spar’s preferred supplier of cash machines.Spar has refused to comment on why it needed to switch suppliers, but has said that Bank Machine proved the most professional ATM company following a...
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Bennett moves to Spar after career with M&S
Richard Bennett has been appointed the new retail director for Spar UK.Bennett will take up his new role later this month, replacing Steve Blackmore, who moved up to the newly created position of supply chain and management information director...
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Good till hunting
Kevin Hunt talks to James Durston about the Tesco challengeKevin Hunt has missed his vocation as a Formula 1 driver, judging by the office cabinet full of racing memorabilia. But as MD of the Lawrence Hunt & Co franchise of Spar...
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Mace empire is carved up
Spar and Palmer & Harvey McLane appear to have ended up splitting what was left of Somerfield’s beleaguered Mace empire pretty much evenly between them.Delivered wholesale operator P&H – which grabbed the rights to the Mace fascia in...
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Tates’ fresh look boosts sales
An initiative to boost fresh produce takings in Spar stores has resulted in a sales uplift of almost a third in 12 months.Central Meridian Spar wholesaler AF Blakemore undertook a “root and branch overhaul” of its fresh produce offer last...
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Spar UK creates consumer insight role for Closhen
Spar UK has appointed Cornelia Closhen to the newly created position of consumer insight manager, where she will conduct tactical and strategic consumer research and develop new formats, store ranges and availability programmes.Closhen was...