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6 | The Grocer | 20 July 2019 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk
M&S concessions open
in WH Smith stores
Concessions will open in Darlington and Sutton ColdfieldSteve Farrell
M&S is aiming to boost
its high street presence
amid branch closures
with the opening of
Simply Food concessions
in WH Smith stores.
Two are to open in
September, in WH Smith
stores in Darlington and
Sutton Coldfield, offering
M&S food to go and food
for tonight, including
ready meals.
It follows the arrival in
June of a smaller range of
M&S food to go, includ-
ing sandwiches, in WH
Smiths in Bedford and
Bournemouth.
All four of the WH
Smith branches are in
areas where an M&S has
closed as part of a five-
year transformation pro-
gramme announced in
November 2017.WH Smith already
operates 12 M&S Simply
Food stores and two
food-to-go trials in UK
hospitals, in a fran-
chise partnership struck
in 2012. However, M&S
ranges have not previ-
ously been offered in
WH Smith high street
branches.
“A s p a r t of ou rtransformation plan
we’re reshaping our store
estate to meet the chang-
ing needs of our cus-
tomers,” said an M&S
spokeswoman. “With our
long-standing franchise
partner, WH Smith, we
see an exciting opportu-
nity to serve customers
on high streets where we
don’t have a store.“This is a small trial,
focused on making our
food-to-go offering acces-
sible for busy custom-
ers, and we’ll be listening
carefully to customer
feedback.”
Commenting on the
Darlington store, in
the Cornmill Shopping
Centre, a WH Smith
spokeswoman said: “For
the lunchtime rush, M&S
sandwiches, salads,
pasta pots and deli items
will be available, as well
as sweet treats and every-
one’s favourite Percy Pig
sweets.
“For tonight, the new
offer also includes a
selection of M&S’s con-
venient prepared meals
for customers to enjoy at
home, as well as a beau-
tiful selection of fresh
flowers.”Poundland has rolled out
Pep&Co to 300 storesPoundland has boosted
margins by reducing
store rents, according to
a trading update from
owner Pepkor Europe.
Group EBITDA rose
29.1% to €151m (£136m),
leading to a further
expansion of EBITDA
margin of 110bps, accord-
ing to the updated half-
year trading statement.
The growth ‘in both
absolute and margin
terms’ had been contrib-
uted to by ‘initial trac-
tion within Poundland to
reduce store rents in line
with prevailing market
conditions and to return
Poundland benefits from lower
rents and growth in Pep&Co
shrinkage to historic lev-
els’, according to the
statement.
Group revenues rose
13.3% to €1.7bn (£1.5bn)
in the period, cover-
ing the half year to 31
March. Poundland’s
own revenues rose by1.6% to €920m (£830m)
amid an ongoing estate
rationalisation pro-
gramme, which has
seen poorly performing
stores closing and 20 new
ones opened in ‘stronger
locations’.
Poundland’s sales
growth, which ‘contin-
ues to outperform the
wider UK high street’,
was attributed primarily
to the rollout of Pep&Co
clothing ‘shops in shops’
to 300 stores, along with
‘measured product range
extension to support a
broader range of price
points’.Food surplus charity
FareShare has launched
a £3m fund to help com-
panies divert edible
waste to good causes.
The fund will be used
to offset the additional
costs faced by companies
seeking to redistribute
their edible surplus food
to charities and commu-
nity groups.
FareShare said it rep-
resented a major win for
The Grocer’s Waste Not
Want Not Campaign.
Environment secretary
Michael Gove announced
£15m of government
funding in October toFareShare launches
£3m food waste fund
tackle the cost of redis-
tributing waste following
months of campaigning
by The Grocer. Almost
£2m of the new fund
will come from this
investment.
The fund will be open
to new companies,
as well as companies
already working with
FareShare that are seek-
ing to redistribute addi-
tional surplus food items.
The charity said the
money would be used to
unlock harder to reach
surplus food, or surplus
food further up the sup-
ply chain.Organic farm Daylesford
hopes to roll out its Zero
Waste Pantry concept to
its four London stores,
after hailing a success-
ful launch at its flagship
Gloucester farm shop last
month.
Zero Waste Pantry,
which was unveiled
on 1 June, features 24
lines sold in packaging-
free dispensers includ-
ing rice, cider vinegar
and cereals. The organic
grower and retailer said
sales of the products had
jumped 25% in June com-
pared to the same month
last year.
Daylesford head
of sustainability Tim
Field said the new pan-
try concept would
be introduced as
refurbishments were
undertaken in the
Brompton Cross, Notting
Hill, Marylebone and
Pimlico stores.
Organic farm
Daylesford to
roll out Zero
Waste Pantry