Annual report & review 2006 - Shopic.com

Interview with our Group CEO
ordering and means even better availability for their
customers – but it’s the kind of innovation that isn’t
directly visible to shoppers.
How are Musgrave retailers coping with increasingly
competitive trading conditions
CM: Retailers are winning when they focus on providing
the consumer with an offer that differentiates them from
competitors and directly addresses local needs.
A good example in Great Britain is Jim Boggon, a Londis
retailer in Edinburgh, who nearly sold‐up shop when his
business came under threat from the multiples. Instead,
with our help he revamped his store, focused on what he
is good at – fresh and food-to-go – and his turnover is up
140 per cent despite the competition. Jim’s story is one of
many that are testament to the fact that if you provide the
consumer with excellent product, and excellent service,
and deliver that service with passion, it makes a difference.
These things can achieve extremely positive results.
It’s important to remember that all our retailers live and
work in the communities they serve. With our help they
can shape their businesses to address markets they know
and understand in a very direct way.
you combine turnover of our retail partners across all
four markets they had a turnover of €6.7 billion.
In Ireland, Centra retailers achieved combined sales
of €1.2 billion, up 17 per cent. 2006 was also a record
year for SuperValu’s retailers in Ireland with sales in
excess of €2 billion for the first time, up 11 per cent.
Daybreak and DayToday sales in the convenience market
across the island of Ireland increased by 16 per cent
to €264 million. In Northern Ireland, SuperValu and
Centra retail partners achieved strong growth in sales of
€474 million, up eight per cent on 2006.
In Great Britain Budgens and Londis retailers recorded
robust sales of €2.6 billion.
What’s more, it’s clear the independent model is really
working in that market. The independently owned
Budgens stores performed particularly well and
recorded sales growth of 88 per cent with the number
of independent stores increasing to 108. In Spain,
SuperValu and Dialprix independent retailers recorded
sales of €113 million, up eight per cent in 2006.
The start of 2007 has seen our businesses performing in
line with or ahead of budget.
And because our retailers own their own stores, they can
bring their personalities and flare to their businesses. If
you go to Scally’s SuperValu in Clonakilty, you’ll find the
longest cheese counter in Ireland. Go to Raj Chandegra’s
Londis in the GlaxoSmithKline building in Brentford
and you’ll find a store tailored to a demanding business
community of 3,000 workers, Quelly’s in Kilrush where
you’ll find one of the best fish counters in the country,
or Terry and Melanie Philpott’s award-winning Castle
Cary Londis store that succeeds with a special blend of
community active retailing.
This level of innovation and diversity, this consumerfocused
retail simply isn’t possible for multiples tied to
uniform, nationwide formulas.
Will this type of innovation help grow the business
This implies there’s now real momentum behind
your UK brands. To what do you attribute that
success
CM: The past 12 months have certainly seen significant
progress in Great Britain. For example, I’ve been very
pleased with the high levels of interest from independent
retailers who want to own a Budgens store. This means
we are on schedule to have all these stores in the hands
of independent retailers by 2008.
The point here is that our retail partners in Great Britain
have recognised that through our long experience in
Ireland, we’ve honed an approach to retail that brings
real value to retailers, consumers and local communities.
Put another way, as a Group we make a considerable
impact not only on the prosperity of the country, but on
the social fabric of Ireland Inc.
CM: Well, we’ve had a very satisfactory set of results for
2006, with Musgrave Group sales of €4.6 billion and if
These are the values and experience we are starting
to bring to communities in Great Britain. I find it ‡
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Musgrave Group Plc Annual Report & Review 2006