Welcome to the February issue of Wholesale Manager. A.F. Blakemore & Son the family-owned business operating SPAR convenience stores and serving retail, foodservice and wholesale customers announced strong results for the 2023/24 financial year in a rapidly changing environment. Chairman, Peter Blakemore announced: “Despite sales declining slightly from £1.24bn to £1.18bn, I’m pleased to present results, showing positive actions on high margin categories and cost control meant adjusted EBITDA increased by 52% from £19.3M to £29.4M after exceptional items.”
Unitas Wholesale, the UK’s largest wholesale group, has revealed the most successful supplier collaborations of 2024 which saw members outperform the market in its retail, foodservice and on trade divisions. Attendees at the Unitas Wholesale Senior Supplier Briefing heard that in a challenging year for the wholesale sector, Unitas delivered a 2% growth in retail, and an increase of 5.1% in on trade year on year, all ahead of overall market performance.
Sugro UK, the member-owned buying and marketing group, announced the expansion of its membership with the addition of Akdeniz Finsbury Ltd as a new member to the group. Akdeniz Finsbury Ltd operate across the Retail, Wholesale and Restaurant sectors. They have 5 Supermarkets and 5 Restaurants of their own, which stock a wide range of product lines across all key categories.
After welcoming five new members into the Country Range Group (CRG) in 2024, CRG has kicked off 2025 in a similar positive fashion after Valley Foods were announced as its latest foodservice wholesale member. The arrival of Valley Foods means the Group now consists of 15 member businesses and 17 wholesalers. Helen Clackett, Director at Valley Foods, and Country Range Group Chief Executive Martin Ward, tells our Focus on Foodservice page how the new partnership will benefit both parties.
Mason Foodservice, a family-owned food wholesaler based in Leicestershire, has announced an exciting expansion designed to enhance its ability to deliver exceptional value to customers. In a Focus on Foodservice interview, George Mason, owner of Mason Foodservice, tells Wholesale Manager what benefits he will get from being a member of Sterling Supergroup and how his expanded warehouse space will boost his business.
London-based Mr. Lemonade supplies craft drinks and snacks to restaurants, retailers and hospitality businesses and was started by Karol and Thaiz Chamera, who were passionate about bringing healthy, mission-driven beverage brands to businesses and consumers. In just eight years, they’ve managed to scale Mr. Lemonade into a thriving business with nearly 30 employees. Karol Chamera, Founder, Mr. Lemonade, tells our Who’s Who in Wholesaling page some of the biggest challenges he has faced in eight years of wholesaling and his goals for what he wants to achieve with the business.
Enjoy reading the issue.
George Simpson
Group Editor
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