Welcome to the Winter 2010 issue of Wholesale Manager, the new publication for decision makers in the UK wholesale and cash & carry industry. We’re publishing Wholesale Manager in print and on-line, so you can catch up on developments in the industry wherever you are.
In these pages you’ll find a wealth of information on products and services that are relevant to the day-to-day running of wholesale and cash & carry businesses. This makes Wholesale Manager a ‘must read’ for everyone in the wholesale and cash & carry sector.
As well as our product pages, don’t miss our sections on IT & Hardware and the Warehouse. In IT & Hardware we look at the IT devices, applications and solutions powering today’s wholesalers and cash & carries, plus the other kit you can’t live without.
All those precious products you sell to your customers have to be handled carefully when they come in, and in the Warehouse feature we look at the crucial subject of warehouse equipment including forklifts and materials handling and warehouse management systems, supply chain technology, specialist logistics and transport services, vehicle safety and security, and pallets.
The UK wholesale and cash & carry sector has done remarkably well in the last two years. That’s despite the recession’s impact on the disposable income of less well off consumers, particularly urban ones, who represent a large proportion of the independent retail sector’s shoppers.
So what will 2010 bring? On the positive side, the return to a VAT rate of 17.5% on 1st January will have an impact on sales of VAT-rated products, but we still have the fourth lowest VAT rate in Europe. The average is now just over 20%.
If you’re worried about what 2010 has in store for your business, the year ahead looks like being a positive sand trap for Mr Tiger Woods. Just before Christmas a certain soft drink company said it was dropping the drink product that he had been endorsing in the USA. In a distinctly cagey statement, the company claimed to have reached its decision months ago to make room for a planned series of innovative products in 2010, long before Tiger crashed his car and various women came forward making allegations about his private life. Will the well-known shaving products company whose ads Tiger has starred in drop him too?!
Thankfully in Britain, our marketers are made of more flinty stuff than their American counterparts, and like their ads and their celebrities a bit edgy, so hopefully we won’t be seeing the last of Tiger in ads and promotions.
We hope you enjoy our new magazine, digital edition, email newsletter and web site. Have a successful 2010.
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