Bestway Wholesale will celebrate 40 years since opening its first cash and carry depot in 1976 next year.

The wholesaler, which owns 63 Bestway, Batleys and BestPets warehouses, will mark the anniversary with extensive celebratory branding, along with a promotion with Best-in Juices that will give retailers the chance to win a family car. Bestway will also launch its first loyalty card system in February 2016.

Younus Sheikh, managing director and founding member of Bestway, said: “Forty years ago Sir Anwar Pervez established Bestway as a fledgling wholesaler in London to give better prices and service to small shop owners. Our mission from day one was to build business for independents and now, forty years on, the group is proud to serve over 200,000 customers from large local authorities to small kiosks form our sixty-three depots nationwide.”

Despite the group managing down the number of stores in its Best-one and Xtra Local groups to maintain the integrity of the brands, sales through the 4,050 affiliated stores have continued to increase.

The focus on chilled and fresh will continue in 2016 as will Best-one’s sector leading rebate scheme ‘My Rewards’ which offers members up to 5% cashback on purchases.