Welcome to the December issue of Wholesale Manager. Kitwave Group plc, the delivered wholesale business, has acquired the entire issued share capital of WLG (Holdings) Limited, which trades as Wilds of Oldham, a composite drinks wholesaler. Established for over 25 years, Wilds of Oldham is a composite, family-run drinks wholesaler supplying the on-and-off trade.
The Country Range Group’s (CRG) success is continuing to attract new members with Waterdene Foodservice the latest independent wholesaler to the join the buying group. Formed in 1982, Waterdene Foodservice is a family-owned business based in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, who utilise their fleet of 23 delivery vehicles to supply a vast and varied network of schools, hospitals, pubs, coffee shops, garden centres and other leisure outlets.
Having already seen great traction with the SPAR Scotland SalesTrack platform, C J Lang & Son Ltd/ SPAR Scotland is now launching its “Indy Track” portal, offering independent SPAR retailers the opportunity to benchmark their performance against others in the group. C J Lang & Son, the wholesaler for SPAR in Scotland, announced the new service at a tradeshow in Aviemore and launched with a pool of independent SPAR retailers providing the wholesaler with their EPOS sales data.
Sugro UK is a unique buying and marketing co-operative of over 80 independent wholesale members with full nationwide coverage, including offshore islands and Northern Ireland. Through its network of members, the group supplies over 16,000 retailers, utilising their dedicated field and telesales staff, with an extensive fleet of delivery drivers and vehicles. Emma Senior, Sugro Managing Director tells our Who’s Who in Wholesale page what she wants to achieve in the role and how the wholesale industry has changed in recent years.
Trevors Foodservice celebrated its 60th anniversary in style with its biggest and most successful catering exhibition to date and the announcement that it would be moving to state-of-the-art new premises in March 2024. The catering extravaganza saw over 250 foodservice business owners, chefs, managers, entrepreneurs and front of house experts in attendance to tap into the latest trends, products and flavours for the festive season and 2024.
As the year draws to a close, Wholesale Manager has looked ahead to try to estimate what will be the biggest trends influencing the wholesale sector in the year ahead. Although the cost of living crisis remains a very challenging issue, the wholesale sector has the potential to give the UK economy the push needed to begin its recovery. Wholesale Manager asked wholesalers what they think will be the most important trends to emerge during 2024 and how wholesalers can best be prepared for the year ahead.
We wish all our readers a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
Enjoy reading the issue.
George Simpson
Group Editor
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