With Blakemore Wholesale now fast progressing the sale of its cash & carry sites, it has been revealed that the major national player, Bestway is to purchase two of its locations: Walsall in the West Midlands and Cardiff in South Wales.

A further boost to scale for Bestway

The acquisition of these two sites comes only two months after the Bestway acquired the Bargain Booze distribution and franchise network, from the collapsed alcohol wholesaler Conviviality.  Boosting its total cash & carry number to 65 across the UK, this latest purchase further expands Bestway's reach in its traditional cash & carry format in two key urban markets and reinforces its position as the number two player amongst retail channel wholesalers. 

Martin Race, Managing Director, Bestway Wholesale commented:

'We are very excited to add these two well-located and sizeable depots to our estate ... The addition of the Cardiff and Walsall depots will only make us stronger, enhancing our presence is these two key areas and expanding our footprint and coverage in the UK.'

It has been announced that the 'retail' division of the collapsed Conviviality wholesale group has been bought from the administrators for £7,250,000 by Bestway Direct Ltd, the delivery arm of Bestway Wholesale.  The acquired businesses include the Bargain Booze off licence franchise operation, as well as the Wine Rack and Central Convenience retail chains.

Adds over 800 stores to Bestway's affiliated network

At the core of this acquisition is the franchise and distribution operation (comprising two depots), which support a network of over 800 stores, comprising some 700 independently owned franchise Bargain Booze outlets, as well as some 150 company-owned stores (mainly in the Central Convenience chain).  This new customer base will complement Bestway's existing customer network of over 100,000 independent retailers, which includes 1,500 members of its Best-one symbol group, serviced through the Bestway Direct division.

And boosts scale in key categories

Bringing around £380m of additional wholesale sales to Bestway will boost its overall wholesale turnover to around £2.5bn.  With a sales mix heavily weighted towards licensed categories (51% alcohol and 34% tobacco), Conviviality Retail will add significant additional scale to Bestway's well-established capabilities in these areas, enabling its customers across the enlarged business to benefit further in purchasing these key convenience store categories.

IGD Convenience Retailing Summit 2018

26-27 September, London

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Leading UK independent food and grocery wholesaler, Bestway has reported its annual figures for the year to 30 June 2017, showing sales down 2.2% to £2,130m.  Performance was impacted above all by the sector-wide decline in tobacco sales.  With tobacco excluded, sales were up 1.9%.  Pre-tax profit rose to £23.2m.

Symbol group showing strong growth

Bestway's Best-one symbol group has expanded rapidly in recent years, and now has around 1,500 member stores.  Wholesale sales to the group have grown proportionately, up 12.9% over the 12 months and 19.7% across non-tobacco categories.

Online sales above £300m

Bestway's online ordering platform now has 62,000 registered users (over 60% of its total customer base), and sales through it rose by 12%, averaging £26m a month.  Mobile ordering through its app is growing ahead of online as a whole, accounting for nearly 25% of all transactions, compared to 15% in the previous period.

Martin Race, Managing Director, Bestway Wholesale commented:

'These latest set of results puts Bestway Wholesale back on track after a year of investment in 2015/16.  We have seen customer satisfaction scores, promotional sales and margins all increase, while following our strategic commitment to operate for less.'

 

IGD Convenience Retailing Summit 2018

 

26-27 September, London

 

Register your interest now to be the first to hear about the speaker line-up and for your chance to get early bird tickets.

Find out more »