“Over the past four years, our business has changed dramatically. We are now attracting the very best Scottish retailers to join SPAR Scotland because of our competitive wholesale package. With our value proposition; SPAR own label; depth of range across chilled, ambient & frozen; our new SPAR Scotland brand positioning; and all delivered by our best-in-class delivery proposition. We are delighted that David and his team have decided to continue the next part of their journey with SPAR Scotland and would encourage others to take a fresh look at what we can now offer”, McLean said.
”Two genuinely Scottish family businesses with a proud heritage working together to drive the future of independent Scottish convenience retailing with SPAR Scotland. It is great news to have such a high-profile convenience store group join us”, he added.
David Sands commented: “Moving towards a SPAR Scotland partnership gives us the opportunity to develop our business into the future as well as provide the local communities where our stores are situated with an even better service. Having the support of the SPAR Brand means we can offer shoppers a wider range of products. Our vision is to continue to develop a solid business not just for today but for future generations. We believe that SPAR Scotland is the only symbol group that can supply all that required support and more.
“We spent a long time debating on our next relationship. We visited [SPAR Scotland operator] C J Lang’s depot in Dundee and several SPAR stores and met the team and the newly refurbished SPAR Market store in Crosshouse. We have been extremely impressed with the proposition SPAR Scotland has to offer. The team understands what our customers want and how we want to make sure we deliver on their needs. The customer is at the heart of what we do. It’s great to see that SPAR Scotland shares these same values.”
McLean added: “We are delighted to welcome David Sands business into the SPAR Scotland family. Independent retailing is about providing a service to local shoppers and ensuring communities can have access to fresh, local products at value prices, and this is what SPAR Scotland is all about.
“David and his colleagues have built a hugely successful award-winning business, and their growth has been very impressive over the years. They know their customer base and their business, and we wish them every continued success for the future with SPAR Scotland.”
Source: SPAR UK
The UK became a SPAR member in 1956 when SPAR International granted the SPAR licence to a group of independent wholesalers. As a result, there are now five regional partners in the UK. A central office in London provides national marketing and buying services for the group.
SPAR has led the highly competitive convenience market in the UK for many years. Always innovative, the five regional partners continue to grow the brand. SPAR UK comprises independently owned licensed retailers and company-owned stores. These include forecourts, airports, train stations, city centres, and local neighbourhood stores.
