Spar Scotland has begun removing retailers from its estate amid plans to ensure independent stores offer the same standards as its centrally owned estate.

Speaking to Better Retailing as the symbol group’s wholesaler CJ Lang released its annual trading results for the year ending April 30, 2022, chief executive Colin McLean said the firm’s store numbers had grown to 203 independent retail and 107 company-owned sites. He added that the company was conducting trials with 45 independent retailers interested in joining Spar Scotland.

The company most notably added former Nisa retailer David Sands to its roster. Commenting on what kind of independent retailer Spar Scotland is after, McLean said: “The investment we made at the back of last year into areas such as food to go is clearly working. We’ve been able to use that to attract lots of independent retailers.

“We’re supplying all four of David Sand’s stores. We’ve got a strong company owned business and we want to share it with independent retailers. There’ll be lots of other good businesses joining, and we’ve also got a good pipeline of those wanting to join.

“Behind the scenes, we’ve taken down some fascia. We expect loyalty and we expect store standards. Our vision for Spar Scotland is that a customer can go into a centrally owned store or an independent store and get the same experience.

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“We want Spar to demonstrate the very best of Scottish retail. We want quality rather than quantity.”

McLean highlighted the firm’s CJ’s hot food-to-go brand, as well as value-led own-label as key areas for investment. Last year, the firm notably used CJ’s as a replacement for underperforming post office branches in stores.

He added: “We’re now getting 35-40% margin from those food to go sites. We’re refocusing CJs on a selected few stores and we’ve entered phase 2 with them, which includes additional ranges and work with local bakeries.

“We’ve kept post offices in 17 locations because there are no obvious alternatives and certain communities rely on them as a lifeline.”

Asked how rising costs had impacted CJ Lang, chief financial officer Guy Smith revealed the firm had implemented a £10 fee in August for every delivery into stores. “We do have higher fuel costs, but our retailers have a balanced view of it. We haven’t completely clawed back the difference and we’ve been very upfront.”

The results revealed that pre-tax profits rose annually by £3.4m during the trading period, while margin also rose by 0.3% to 23.3%. In comparison, turnover fell by 0.1% to £212.3m during the 12-month period.

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