One Stop is to increase its investment in chilled and improve EPoS support across franchised stores.

The improvements to the range were announced at the company’s first franchise conference last month, which celebrated 10 years since the company added its first franchisee.

Attendees told Better Retailing the conference had given them lots of confidence about the future of the business.

One said: “There were a lot of exciting announcements made during the event and it covered the successes of One Stop over the past decade. It provided a lot of assurance that One Stop is in a good place and is trying its hardest to support stores.

“It unveiled a new chilled range that has been developed using what has been learned from the wider industry, and we’re also going to get products from major third-party brands, such as Pizza Express.”

Attendees at the franchise conference also had issues about EPoS addressed. One retailer said: “They acknowledged there had been issues with the back-office EPoS system and made assurances they were looking into it and addressing problems with areas such as ordering.

“The way they recognised there were issues they wanted to fix was very positive.”

The company also used the conference to highlight further benefits, such as free ACS membership for stores, with franchisees Sunder Sandher and Dee Sedani giving a presentation on benefits from the trade group.

Presentations were also given by head of franchise John Miller and finance director Mark Everitt, while franchisees had an opportunity to meet new One Stop managing director Stephanie Wood.

Jill Livesey, managing director of analyst Lumina Intelligence, also gave a presentation on the state of the convenience and grocery market.

Miller said: “One Stop is always looking for ways in which it can support its franchisees and their businesses. Therefore, One Stop is delighted to announce that it will pay for franchisees’ membership fees for the ACS, if this is of interest to them.

“Joining the ACS means franchisees will be part of a stronger campaigning voice to government and have access to best-practice guides, and it will enable them to connect with retailers to help grow their businesses.

“One Stop is advancing its technology in its EPoS system, online delivery and back office. Recently, at our first annual franchise conference, One Stop announced it will be focusing on improving financial reporting and technological efficiencies for franchisees.

“One Stop is looking to bring new propositions to customers, and will be making an announcement at the end of October with regard to its fresh range.”

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