SPAR (UK) news

Major UK wholesale business A.F. Blakemore, and the biggest distributor within the UK’s SPAR retail network, has appointed Carol Welch as CEO to replace Jerry Marwood; who has held the role for the last 11 years and is leaving to focus on consultancy and non-executive directorships. New CEO joins from ODEON Cinemas Group For the last six years Carol Welch has been managing director UK & Ire...

Northern Ireland SPAR distributor, Hendersons has re-opened its extensively remodeled SPAR store at Mallusk in Country Antrim including the first ever drive-thru execution of its proprietary hot coffee brand Barista Bar. Located in a largely commercial zone, the new Mallusk store has a significant demand for food and drinks-to-go to meet the daily needs of the local working population and drive-t...

Meeting in person for the first time since 2019, the annual Blakemore Trade Partners trade show and conference at the Telford International Centre took the title ‘New World: New Opportunities’; flagging the changed realities of UK grocery retailing in the post-pandemic era. On the conference platform we heard from a line-up of speakers spanning independent SPAR retailers, AF Blakemore itself, SPA...

AF Blakemore, the SPAR distributor for the midland England and Wales, has opened its refurbished company-owned convenience store in the Welsh university town of Aberystwyth, which now features a new multi-brand takeaway food concept entitled ‘Eat Some …’ This comprises six hot food counters each serving menus based around complementary takeaway formats. All proprietary concepts developed and o...

Our latest research provides recommendations on how you should prepare for energy transition in convenience retail. Available to IGD Retail Analysis subscribers: The future for forecourts in Europe Below are some of the key highlights… Looking for more insight? Retail Analysis subscribers can read more here: Your guide to convenience...

We look inside SPAR Carnon Downs near Truro, Cornwall, which reopened last month following a £400,000 redevelopment. Strong focus on locality and provenance The 2,600 sq ft / 242 sq m store has a wide range of local Cornish products, as well as butchery counter branded in the Cornish ‘Goon Karnen Kigti’. Source: SPAR (UK), IGD Research Source: SPAR (UK), IGD Research Emph...

Blakemore Retail has launched its first SPAR Market store in Gwynedd, Wales.  Our view More convenience retailers around the world are moving away from a one size fits all approach. SPAR Market is a great example of how Blakemore Retail is flexing its approach to the communities it serves. SPAR Market in Bala is also connected to the Snappy Shopper app and this will extend its reach to more...

Having achieved full-year growth of 11.8% for 2020, SPAR (UK) has reported a continuing high rate of growth versus 2019 in 2021, with sales up 8.5% for the four weeks to 28 March compared with two years before. Now the symbol group has revealed an investment of £125m over the next year to expand and enhance its store network and logistics infrastructure. £100m investment in stores Of the £1...

Major UK SPAR distributor, AF Blakemore has announced significant new initiatives to upweight the food-to-go capability of its company-owned and independent partner stores; enhancing core cold ranges and launching two new hot concepts to increase daypart relevance. Daily Deli range overhauled Blakemore’s core pre-packaged food-to-go brand, Daily Deli has been comprehensively overhauled with...

The regional SPAR wholesaler for the north of England, James Hall & Co, has launched a store on Lancaster University’s campus. Serving a range of student missions The store, which was previously an independently owned SPAR store since 1995, has been refurbished by James Hall & Co. Following the full store refurbishment, the store caters to a range of needs and missions. The range includ...