News Archive 2008

Christmas at Bestway offers the independents' a whole range of opportunities to improve that essential bottom line at such an important buying time of the year. Products ranging from pet foods to the more usual wines and spirits to bread sauce and stuffing for the turkey are included on the promotional trolley at Bestway and Batleys.

11th December 2008

Bestway has introduced a new fresh range of cooked meats and cheese slices to its own label - ‘Best-in'. The range includes a variety of 14 products; roast pork, turkey, various hams, chicken breasts, corned beef, luncheon meat, and 3 varieties of sliced cheeses, all returning a top line margin of over 30 percent.

Nick Brown, the Bestway controller responsible for the Best-in brand said, " The introduction of these new fresh products to the Best-in label is a further example of the development of what we have achieved with our own label. The products are all price marked, in line with what our independent retailer customers tell us they want and have a top quality endorsement too. We have also delivered a very good margin of over 30 percent."

The product range includes:

• Roast Pork100g packs at £1.25, price marked at £1.79 giving a POR of 30.1 percent
• Roast Wiltshire Ham 100g pack at £1.04, price marked at £1.49 giving a POR of 30.2 percent
• Mature Cheddar Cheese sliced in 200g packs at £1.11, price marked at £1.59 giving a POR of  30.1 percent.

All Best In products are on sale now across the 51 Bestway and Batleys cash and carry network of depots in England, Scotland and Wales.

11th December 2008

Mr Younus Sheikh, the managing director of Bestway Cash and Carry Group has been awarded a highly prestigious industry award. The Asian Trader magazine awarded Mr Sheikh the Editor's Award for Outstanding Achievement. The award was presented to Mr Sheikh at a London Awards dinner by the Rt Hon Tony McNulty MP, Minister for Employment and Mr Ramniklal Solanki CBE, editor-in-chief of Asian Trader magazine.

12th November 2008

The Best One symbol group, part of the Bestway Group, has extended its services to the 500 strong membership by commencing this week the roll-out of the Western Union Money Transfer service.

Western Union, a world leader in global money transfer offers customers of Best One retailers across the country the ability to transfer funds within minutes to over 365,000 agent locations in 200 countries.

James Hall, the business development controller of Best One said, " We are one of the first symbol groups to provide a money transfer service. This is a valuable addition to the current services we promote to our membership. Each member who signs up to provide the service will make enhanced earnings through commission from each of their customers' transactions in addition to attracting more footfall to their shop with the potential that brings of more sales."

Retailers can operate the service via any existing computer and broadband service. If for any reason retailers do not have these facilities these can  be provided on a rental basis.

30 October 2008

Bestway has announced a further new launch under its own label brand, Best-in, with

a new product in the energy soft drinks range called Stimulation.

28th October 2008

One of the industry's top award schemes - the Bestway group's Retailer Development Awards - has made 18 awards and given away £70,000 in total prize value  - (£35,000 in cash and £35,000 worth of free stock and other benefits) to independent retailers entering from across England, Scotland and Wales when nearly 400 attended a glittering event at London's Grosvenor House. (9^th October)

10 October 2008

From October 3^rd - November 13^th 2008 Bestway, the UK's second largest cash and carry group is launching a ‘Best-in Cash Dash' mega promotion' throughout all 51 Bestway and Batley's branches for its Best-in own label .  This is Best-in's biggest ever promotion and it will offer customers exceptional cash profit margins on over 80 top quality products from the popular own label range.

06 October 2008

The Guardian newspaper is currently running a series on Wines of the World and  in the edition(11th September), they have included the
Cellar Estates Royal Cava Rose as the preferred and recommended Rose Cava. The selection, made by Tim Atkin, the Observer (sister newspaper) wine correspondent said in his glowing tasting notes, "A clean, delicate and soft of the palate. Very drinkable" . Cellar Estates Rose Cava, the Bestway own label wine, is the only wine of its kind to be recommended as highly and presents a good opportunity to purchase as a suitable wine for the Christmas and New Year festive season.

16th September 2008

BESTWAY, the second largest cash and carry group in the UK, has moved into producing its own label pear cider. The brand, called Country Choice, has been introduced by the firm to meet an increase in demand for pear cider with consumers.

16th September 2008

Bestpets, part of Batleys Cash and Carry, a Bestway Group company, has launched a new online ordering facility for customers of its delivered pet food range. The new web site is exclusive to Bestpets registered customers.

14th August 2008

The latest introductions to the Bestway own label range of over 500 Best-in products is a range of personal wipes.

Nick Brown, the Best-in brand controller at Bestway said, "We have introduced a new range of personal wipes for use in the home and on the move. These wipes follow a general review of our product range for the consumer, where both personal and household cleanliness is key.

"As with all Best-in products, we have delivered a top profit margin for retailers on all the wipes products."

23rd July 2008

A Bestway Foundation donation of £60,000, made available from the company's annual racing day at Royal Ascot last year-2007, has been fundamental in enabling the Barnardos Charity to convert a building in the Tower Hamlets area of East London to become a Barnardo's Hub Construction Skills centre to help train youths in this deprived area. The building was officially opened by The Rt Hon Ed Balls MP, Secretary of Sate for Children, Schools and Families.

This year's racing charity day, held as usual at Royal Ascot, was to benefit the Great Ormond Street Hospital and a significant cheque will be passed to the Appeal later this year.

22nd July 2008

Essential Catering, the Bestway cash and carry group's highly successful magazine aimed specifically at the Catering trade, is taking a leap forwards with its appearance on line. Each issue, which appears quarterly, will now be available on line via http://www.essentiallycatering.co.uk/ This is in addition to the hard copy which readers currently receive. The information contained in the magazine is specifically produced to appeal to a cross section of the catering industry.

David Gilroy, the Bestway manager who initiated the launch of the magazine said, " We are delighted at the way the magazine has been received, and because we have such a diverse range of customers in the catering industry, from small café owners and sandwich bars to big restaurant groups. We wanted something that would communicate effectively with all of them, and put across objective information that would help them in their daily work and at the same time remind them that the 51 Bestway and Batleys cash and carry branches across the country are able to provide all of their product requirements. I am pleased to say that we are currently supplying around 55,000 copies to readers."

Advertising space is available in each issue and has attracted a wide range of companies who are anxious to promote their products directly to the catering industry, in the current issue those advertisers include, Mercedes Benz, Coca Cola, Heinz and Nestle.

11th July 2008

Bestway has launched a new venture, Bestway Training, to help its customers compete more effectively. The new service will be FREE to Bestway and Batleys customers and will rollout over the next few months. Call 01438 745566 or email enquiries@bestwaytraining.com

Chris Taylor, Development Director, believes the offering will enable independent retailers to gain a competitive advantage, adding that 'Upskilling your staff will help to drive sales and improve employee retention rates'.

Bestway Training has a national coverage of assessors and tutors who can deliver a wide range of FREE courses for you and your staff at your location. If you employ less than 50 staff, you may be entitled to wage compensation. Due to the overwhelming initial response from Retailers at the recent Bestway Seminars, places will be offered on a first come first served basis.

Best-one, the Bestway symbol group put a lot of muscle into the recent MY SHOP YOUR SHOP (MSYS) initiative. This is the annual campaign devised to draw attention to the role of local shops across the country and the essential place they occupy in serving the community.   Bestway supports the independent retailers in as many ways as possible, and the MSYS campaign has been no exception.

12/06/08

Bestway wines picked up 26 medals in the International Wine Challenge (IWC) this year.

The Bestway group's Cellar Estates own label brand did exceptionally well with a silver and 5 bronze medals and 20 commendations for a selection of its wines.

The winning wines were in the following categories;

The Silver medal went to the Cellar Estates Chianti Classico 2006

The group's Lelac Champagne Brut wine was commended.

Younus Sheikh, Bestway Cash and Carry's managing director said, " We are delighted again with this year's results. Cellar Estates has now become a well established brand in its own right and these accolades prove that the people in the world of wine, who really know about these things, have recognised our success too."

11/06/08

Seminars can be hard work for most of us, but here we can see some people know how to make a party go with a swing.

James Hall, business development controller for Best-one, the Bestway symbol group, is presenting Best-one retailer 'Sheikh' Ian Phillips from Ferring in Sussex, and Annie Taylor from the Best-one store in Romsey near Southampton with their prizes for coming 'fully and best dressed' at the celebration dinner staged at the end of the recent Bestway Regional Seminars held for all independent retailers. The event is held in the South and the North of England.

L-R James Hall, Ian Phillips, Annie Turner of the Best-one and Tony Taylor, national accounts manager of Coca Cola, who helped judge the winners.

11/06/08

The independent local store gets a big shot in the arm this week. People power is alive and well in Manchester.  Following community pressure for a local independent store in preference to a major multiple, Bestway Group's symbol brand, Best One, has beaten the multiple supermarkets and opened a store in a regeneration area of Manchester.  The Best One Xtra store in Stockport Road, Manchester is part of a new development called Grove Village Parade and it was the voice of local people that called the tune.  The community pleaded with the local council that they have a small independent store that would deliver true personal service and not one of the big supermarket groups. Numerous presentations were made by the Best One team in the North, Steve Gascoigne and George Emmitt, who presented the independent case to local councils and groups in the area.

15/05/08

The special 50^th Anniversary promotion to celebrate Batleys 50^th year as a cash and carry is now approaching the final three weeks and is set to break all records for the Bestway Group.

The final promotion period begins on 9^th May and runs until 29^th May. The final burst of offers contains some of the best yet with a range of over 200 products. The Best-In own label top quality range is offering 50 different products, all with the minimum of 50 percent margin for the retailer and is another example of helping the independents to build their business with great returns.

This promotion is available to customers at all 51 depots in the Bestway and Batleys group.

01/05/08

In the past 50 years cash and carry has come a long way and that's all thanks to Lawrence Batley.

In April 1958, when Lawrence Batley invented cash and carry by opening the first depot in Huddersfield, little did he know he would revolutionise the way the independent trader ran their business in the future.

24/04/08

Bestway Cash and Carry Group continues to keep developing its Best-In own label product range with the introduction of a number of new products during May.

Toasted Cornflakes and Toasted Honey Nut Cornflakes have come out on top in recent tastings with customers for both their quality and the ‘very sensible' packaging. Both products will be available in a new 5 x 500g packs.

24/04/08

Batleys Cash and Carry Group, part of the Bestway Group, celebrated its 50th anniversary with a glittering evening celebration and awards dinner attended by over 650 friends, suppliers, current and retired staff, at York Racecourse on Friday April 18th.  Also there to help Batleys' operations director, Martin Race, and his team celebrate were senior management from Bestway Group including chairman, Sir Anwar Pervez, cash and carry managing director, Younus Sheikh and chief executive of Bestway Group, Zameer Choudrey.

Picture shows left to right
Zameer Choudrey, chief executive of Bestway Group, Martin Race, operations director Batleys Cash and Carry and Younus Sheikh, managing director, Bestway Cash and Carry Group.

24/04/08

A glittering dinner for suppliers, management and staff and friends at York Races in April and an imaginative ‘Gold Rush' promotion form the cornerstone of this year's 50^th Anniversary celebrations for the Batleys cash and carry operation.

28/03/08

Customers to Bestway's Park Royal & Edgware Road Cash and Carry branches were able to get a sneak preview of the new Mercedes C22 CDI Estate last week, ahead of it appearing in any car showroom throughout the country.  The special preview is linked to a major competition open to all Bestway and Batleys customers through the current issue of the new industry magazine, Essentially Catering  for professional caterers.

27/02/08

When it comes to celebrating, Bestway cash and carry group knows what to offer.

In February three top annual festivals are recognised with some eye-catching promotions to appeal to independent retailers with a mixed customer profile.

28/01/08

In a recent article published in The Grocer (5^th January 2008) Younus Sheikh, Managing Director of Bestway Cash & Carry sets out the challenges and some opportunities for the industry in the year ahead. This is the full text of his article.

10/01/08