Parfetts has opened a new 113,000 sq ft depot in Southampton, creating over 100 jobs and driving its push towards £1bn turnover and 2,000 fascia members.
The Hedge End site is the first new cash and carry in the region for 25 years, serving retailers from the South Coast to Greater London.
It is already attracting strong interest from independents, including Bristol’s first Go Local store, which launched over the summer.
On opening day, Noel Robinson and Guy Swindell, joint managing directors of Parfetts, told Wholesale Manager all about the new depot.
What has been the retailer response to the new depot?
Noel: We have been blown away with the response by retailers. The only problem currently is the car park is full and we are blocking the road. So, we’ve had a tremendous response. We recruited 400 plus retailers over the previous weeks for the cash & carry. And it looks as if every one of those has turned up.
Guy: We have received tremendous support from suppliers as well. We’ve got supplier activations, food trucks, competitions, prizes, we have got a DJ. You might also hear in the background. It’s fantastic.
What prizes are up for grabs in the competitions?
Noel: We’ve got Monster Energy, free tickets, free stock and experiences people can win.
Guy: It’s mainly stock that’s up for grabs. We have 2,000 lines on promotion, which is why most of the retailers are here.
Tell us about some of the features of the new depot?
Noel: It’s 113,000 square feet. It’s got a great delivery capability, with a backyard, we are looking to do a lot of delivery out of here. The depot will have a good cash & carry base, but I think over time, the majority of the business will be delivered. In terms of the location, if you wanted to pick a site for a cash & carry in this area, it would be where we are now. It’s on a retail estate two minutes off the M27 at the Hedge End Retail Park. Guy and I looked for over a year to find the right site. We walked in here and made the decision within 10 minutes and then the rest unfolded from there.
How many retailers have you recruited at Southampton?
Noel: We have got 400 so far. I think the capacity will be between 500 and 750, depending on delivered versus cash & carry.
Is 750 your target?
Noel: We don’t have a target for the number of retailers.
How many product lines are available at the new depot?
Noel: There are 9,000 lines, give or take 100, in here today. That’s £10 million worth of stock. There’s about 200 of our own label lines available out there. There are several which are new to this region, that have never been distributed down here before.
Are you looking to sign retailers up to your symbol groups, Go Local, Go Local Extra and The Local?
Guy: Yes. Even prior to the depot opening as a cash & carry, we were using the site as a trans-shipment site. We were picking up stock using vehicles from Birmingham, and then utilising the yard to push out deliveries from Southampton. So already we have 90 customers using the delivered service, and we’ve already recruited stores to come across to our symbols. We’ve already got three Go Local and Go Local Extra stores on board. The pipeline is really strong. We’ve got several guys out on the road recruiting stores, working with retailers now. We have really hit the accelerator now that we’ve got the site open, and we can do full-on deliveries from here. The reach from here is fantastic. We’re already delivering to the West London area and Exeter on the other side, from Brighton all the way up to Swindon, and we have reached Bristol, where our Birmingham deliveries go to. We have now met in the middle between the two depots. it gives us a greater reach, and it should give us that kick to get past the target of 2,000 symbol stores in the next two or three years.
Is this the first depot Parfetts has opened since Birmingham three years ago?
Noel: Yes, it is. This joins up the Midlands with the South. We’re painting the country red.
You’ve got everywhere except Cornwall and Devon. Would that be the next target, to go to the south-west?
Noel: Well, there’s a few other gaps to fill before we go to the south-west.
Are there any particular plans or targets for the business?
Noel: The big plan, and everything runs off this, is in the next three years, we want to be a billion-pound company in terms of turnover. However many members we need, however many retailers we will need, we’ll be planning to execute that in the next three years. We finished our last financial year at £733 million. The Southampton depot is just another step on that journey to get to a billion pounds. When we get there, we will reset our target to one and a half billion and then go again.
How do you intend to get to the billion-pound target?
Noel: We have got a spreadsheet to get us there, we just need to turn it into reality!
The Local, the dedicated alcohol store, was the most recent of your symbol launches. How is that performing?
Guy: It has received a great response from retailers. We have already passed 10 stores. It is a very real thing; I think it’s going to give the wider estate a big shot in the arm. It’s now an opportunity where we can look to recruit the forecourt retailers and transient sites as well. That means stores on a high street or near a bus depot where you have got that time sensitive consumer. We are really pleased with the brand, how it looks, and we’ve been working really hard in terms of the ranging and partnering with third party companies to cover the range required for forecourts, like car essentials. We are really encouraged with the response we’ve got thus far.
Is there anything you want to add about the Southampton depot?
Noel: It offers something for everybody, it just adds choice.
Guy: What makes us different, I think, is we’ve got an option for all. Whether you are just looking for a local cash & carry to do the top-up, or whether you want to look for deliveries or go full in and go symbol with us, whether you are a 750 square foot store or a 2,500 square foot store, whether you’re a forecourt or on the high street or an off-licence, we can work with you. We are a partner, we are there to support. You retain your independence. You protect your margins. We offer very competitive margins, but you are in control of that. So retailers get the freedom, but also the support of a relationship. Parfetts earned the highest customer satisfaction rating among retailers in the Lumina Symbol Wholesale Index 2025, which we’re really pleased about. We have seen today, whoever the retailers are, whether they are currently with a competitor or they are a multi-site operator or they have one store, they are interested in this store.
The other big point of difference you have is you are an employee-owned company. Does that mean the staff are more motivated than they might be in other companies, that they have a real sense of ownership and family?
Guy: Yes. We couldn’t do this without the Parfetts team. With us, what you put in as a member of the Parfetts team, you get out. There have been big record bonuses for staff over the past few years. We all share in the success of the company, and I think that translates through the team. Whether you work in the depot or you’re a driver or you are a sales guy, it’s your business. We were told in the Lumina report that we have the best customer service, we’re going to trust the opinion of those retailers.
Noel: It’s the key, it’s the magic that underpins everything we do, it allows us to make long term strategic investment, back into the business.
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