04 August 2014

 

New Glasgow depot puts in sparkling performance

Kilbirnie Street was the only place to be on the 31st July as more than 500 suppliers and guests were present to see Bestway Group chairman Sir Anwar Pervez OBE H Pk officially open Bestway Batleys new depot in Glasgow.

At the opening, Sir Anwar thanked customers for their continued support and shared how he had learned much from Scottish retailers and wholesalers including Yaqub Ali, ex owner of the Castle Cash & Carry Group and how he thought it was time for Bestway as a brand to give something back to the community.

Bestway Chief Executive Zameer Choudrey, who also addressed the audience, promised to deliver more to help customers build their businesses promising customers; more choice, more competitive pricing; more support and more flexibility.

And customers responded.

The business produced a stunning performance on the day with customers fully appreciating the extensive range and fantastic prices on offer. Initial results show that sales were up 196% on the corresponding day the week before and the depot posted a healthy margin demonstrating that customers purchases both promotional and non-promoted lines at launch.

The depot also saw a 128% increase in footfall as customers flocked to see the transformed depot. Batleys Cambuslang also posted a healthy sales increase of 13% over the previous week despite fears of cannibalisation.

Suppliers were also impressed by the new depot. Jonathan Kemp, commercial director of Barr Soft Drinks commented. “Bestway have created a truly PHENOMENAL depot in the heart of Glasgow. It is clear that a significant amount of thought and hard work has gone into the development of the layout, and both the retail and catering offerings. It is a large, light depot, offering a very broad range of products yet it is easy to shop and find what you are looking for. It is great to see the Bestway name - that has grown so strongly in England over the past 40 years - in Scotland. It is good news for retailers and caterers alike."

His views were echoed by fellow soft drink supplier Britvic with Commercial Director Trystan Farnworth adding “The new depot has retained all the great things from the old operation - catering supplies, world foods and ethnic staples - but has added a whole lot more with grocery, impulse, alcohol, chilled and frozen and butchery. It really does seem that the management has thought of everything to make the new depot a one-stop shop for customers. The new depot is a fantastic destination and a welcome addition to the Scottish wholesale scene.”

Rising from the site of the old Sher Bros business, which was acquired in April, the depot has been transformed and now offers customers the widest range of products in the Glasgow from a massive 110,000sq ft of floor space.

Under the stewardship of general manager Pat Collins the depot hopes to become a magnet for customers and Pat was quick to thank customers for their patience over the last four months saying, “Since we acquired the Sher Bros business, a lot of hard work has been put in by staff, contactors, builders and the like. While I would like to obviously thank them for all their efforts, the flipside is that the last 6-8 weeks has meant that the depot wasn’t a particularly great place to shop for customers with all the building work going on. I would like to thanks them all for sticking with us and am sure they will see that the wait has been well worth it. They now have a depot that is a joy to shop and one that we all can be rightly proud of.”

The new Bestway Batleys Glasgow depot becomes the eighth depot in the Batleys Scotland portfolio with other depots in Aberdeen, Stirling, Edinburgh, Cambuslang, Perth, Dundee and Bellevue Edinburgh.