Welcome to the Autumn 2011 Wholesale Manager, and hello to new readers just joining us. This is the latest issue of the UK cash ‘n’ carry and delivered wholesale industry’s very own independently published, sector-specific tabloid-size magazine.
As we head for the final quarter of the year, we hope business is good for you. In cities across England the recovery from the August riots continues, and our thoughts go to all of you and your neighbourhood retailing and other customers whose businesses have been affected.
On the bright side, across the UK people are back from holiday, kids are in class and students are returning to uni after the summer. As the leaves start falling, Britain begins bedding down for autumn, but people still want to enjoy themselves, spending money in retail, in restaurants, in catering and the on-trade.
As the nights draw in, the party season starts in earnest, with high spending peaks including Diwali (25 October), Halloween (31 October) and Bonfire Night (5 November.) And after that we’re into the lead in to Christmas, biggest sales time of the year for a whole host of products. It all adds up to good news for neighbourhood retailers, and the cash ‘n’ carries and wholesalers supplying them.
If you’re looking to turn over a new leaf in time for autumn and improve your efficiency so you can catch the extra business to be had at this time of year, a good place to start is a review of your warehouse and stock handling arrangements. In this issue you’ll notice we’ve put a major emphasis on the warehouse, including the hardworking hardware powering the handling and storage of goods in cash ‘n’ carry depots and wholesale warehouses. It starts on our front page, with the lead story about specialist forklift supplier Bendi breaking the storage barrier with an innovative nationwide warehousing blueprint for Asda that has transformed their storage operations.
The bottom line is, through engineering innovation and design, Asda was able to save on average 40% space in its ‘back of house’ high bay racking areas per store thanks to reducing aisle widths to less than 2m and replacing reach and counterbalance trucks with VNA Bendi trucks. Now the same breakthrough application promises to deliver the same outstanding results in the cash ‘n’ carry and delivered wholesale sectors, and create more space for sales without investing in bigger premises.
Here’s to a prosperous autumn, and successful trading.
James Surridge, Publishing Editor, Wholesale Manager
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