Expanded food manufacturing, fresh ranges and strong availability of food to go lines were three of the main takeaways from James Hall & Co. Ltd’s Spar Forward retailer event in Harrogate last week.
More than 600 delegates gathered at the town’s Convention Centre, where they heard a range of convenience retail strategies from keynote speakers in the morning.
Attendees included Spar independent retailers from across the North of England, retail teams from James Hall & Co. Ltd’s G&E Murgatroyd company-owned Spar store division, and colleagues from elsewhere in the UK and internationally.
An action-packed tradeshow with 66 of the biggest suppliers in convenience retail followed, while an entertaining social evening featuring a series of team games and a quiz rounded off the day.
Chairman and CEO, Andrew Hall, welcomed delegates and outlined plans to expand James Hall & Co. Ltd’s existing food manufacturing capabilities to better support Spar independent retailers in navigating supply chain issues and stubborn inflationary pressures.
Hall said, “if we can’t buy it, we’ll make it,” listing the launches of new Spar fresh chicken products, mid-tier chilled Spar pizzas and Clayton Park Bakery sourdough lines as key highlights of the last 12 months. He also announced that fresh food sales in the Spar Northern Guild have outstripped the wider convenience retail sector by 4%.
Ann Forshaw’s used the event to launch a new Gooseberry & Elderflower yoghurt alongside an Apple Crumble luxury yoghurt in the brand’s glass jar range, while Clayton Park Bakery showcased its new Cherry & Marshmallow Cupcakes.
Spar Forward also marked the chance to celebrate 70 years of Spar in the UK with James Hall & Co. Ltd the only remaining founding partner from 1956, when the brand entered the market from the Netherlands.
Spar International managing director, Tobias Wasmuht, featured own brand, store investment, and fresh food success stories from Spar numerous other countries including France, Malta, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland.
Company stores director, Fiona Drummond, went on to focus on the evolving food to go range at Spar Kitt Green in Wigan - and the learnings from it - after the introduction of a serve over deli counter adjacent to the tills during the store’s complete refurbishment in November of last year.
In other updates, joint managing director, Niels Dekkers, said the Spar Northern Guild will invest £8.8m in new retail technology, marketing and margins, including partnering with Relex Solutions to upgrade forecasting and replenishment across wholesale and retail operations.
He also stressed the value of Q-commerce platforms to convenience retail was still growing with Uber Eats introduced in 2025. The platform has not cannibalised sales placed at company-owned Spar stores through Deliveroo and Just Eat, but has instead established itself as part of a formidable trio that have grown Q-commerce sales by 40% in the last year.
Peter Dodding (presenting, left), sales director and chairman of Spar Northern Guild, added: “Prior to Spar Forward, I said we have convenience retail strategies here at James Hall & Co. Ltd to keep our retailers growing both their sales and profitability, and I believe we’ve achieved this with the presentation of our blueprint for the year ahead.
“Despite the obvious challenges we are facing in the convenience retail sector at present, there is a real feeling of optimism and togetherness under the Spar brand as we continue to work hard to deliver real success for our retailers.”
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