Haldanes News Release 07/1/2010
New supermarket chain in major expansion across England & Wales
Haldanes Stores, the new supermarket company launched less than two months ago, has acquired another group of outlets throughout England and Wales.
The latest acquisitions means an expansion by nearly 45 per cent for the Lincolnshire-based firm.
The additional tranche of stores adds eight to the 18 already acquired, comprising 15 in Scotland and three in England.
It brings to an end several months of uncertainty for the staff at the Co-op and Somerfield branches since The Co-operative Group bought over that supermarket chain last March.
‘All 245 jobs at the eight branches are being guaranteed,’ said Haldanes chairman Arthur Harris from his headquarters in Grantham, Lincs.
The acquisitions came about after The Co-operative Group agreed with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to offload 133 outlets, in centres where it already had stores, following its takeover of Somerfield.
The first store to begin trading under the Haldanes brand was at Prestonpans, near Edinburgh, in November, followed by two others near the Scottish capital, and one in Lanarkshire.
The first to open under the new owners in England will be at Tattershall, Lincs., on January 26. Two others - at Belper, in Derbyshire, and Kirkby in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire - will come on line a few days afterwards.
The eight new acquisitions, half still trading as Somerfield, the other four as The Co-op, stretch from Cumbria to Essex.
The latest acquisitions are in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, Dovercourt in Essex, Carterton in Oxfordshire, Ramsey in Cambridgeshire, Pwllheli, North Wales, Royton, near Oldham in Lancashire, Wigton in Cumbria and Biddulph, Staffordshire.
These outlets will reopen as Haldanes between March 17 and April 20, each after a few days of closure for refurbishment and rebranding, during which exisiting staff will be hands-on.
This will mean that, in the five months from launch to the end of April, Haldanes will have a chain operating from Wick in the far north of Scotland to Essex, employing 1,000 staff.
Haldanes has three key words at the core of its trading policy – quality, fresh and local.
Scarborough-born Mr Harris explains: ‘Other supermarket groups have boasted a reputation for good quality products, but we will go further than that; we’ll be dedicating a higher percentage to freshly grown, local products. That policy with also extend to using local bakers and butchers as suppliers.’
Haldanes will source more than a third of its food and drink from local producers and suppliers at each of its nationwide stores.
‘We also believe that local knowledge is essential and that is at the heart of our expertise,’ Mr Harris adds. ‘Our local knowledge is particularly important because it means that we are able to tailor products to local tastes. Although some of the established supermarket chains have tried to source locally, we believe that that none has managed it effectively.’
The new company has pledged to engage fully with local community life at each of the stores, most of which are in market towns.
Mr Harris says: ‘We appreciate the role that shops like ours can play in local communities and it’s our intention to give something back in return. For example, we would be keen to support local events and, quite simply, to be an integral part on the community. In some ways, we wish to get back to the days when the local store was at the hub of community life.’
In addition to local producers, Haldanes’ main suppliers will be Nisa-Today’s and Total Produce.
Andrew J. Mouse, Group sales director of Nisa-Today’s, said: ‘We’re delighted to have been chosen to work with Haldanes Stores on this exciting project, having previously agreed a five-year contract to supply the group through our central distribution operation.
‘We’re also delighted to share in Haldanes successful growth; they have very ambitious plans going forward and we hope that we are able to assist them in achieving these goals.’
Mr Harris says: ‘We think we have injected excitement and optimism into the retail trade nationally by our launch when all the news in recent months has been downbeat.’
‘People have been asking us why we are taking what they see as such a bold move in the face of a recession. My answer is that this opportunity presented itself to us to acquire some excellent stores with some fantastic staff. It’s as simple as that’.