McColl’s extends supply partnership with Morrisons for further three years
McColl’s has agreed terms for a new supply arrangement with the Morrisons supermarket chain.
The company said the move represents a significant milestone in its strategy to become a food-led convenience retailer and means that Morrisons is now the single wholesale supplier across the entire McColl’s estate.
Morrisons began supplying McColl’s with hundreds of Safeway branded products in 2018. Under the terms of the new agreement, Morrisons will supply McColl’s 1,200 stores with a convenience range for a further three years until January 2027.
McColl’s also operates 31 Morrisons Daily stores that sell Morrisons own-brand products. The company said it is now planning to have 300 McColl’s convenience stores converted to the fascia over the next three years.
Jonathan Miller, chief executive of McColl’s, said: “I am delighted to extend our partnership with Morrisons by a further three years, ensuring the continued supply of a supermarket-quality offer across our entire estate, as well as the planned conversion of additional Morrisons Daily stores. Today’s important milestone has been achieved with the welcome support of our banking syndicate, enabling us to execute our strategy to deliver sustainable profitable growth.”
David Potts, chief executive of Morrisons, added: “Today’s agreement is another example of Morrisons extending the reach of our popular brand. In doing so, we are building a broader, stronger Morrisons for customers, and leveraging our existing assets to achieve capital light, profitable growth. We are delighted to be further expanding our successful partnership with McColl’s and look forward to growing together for many years to come.”
McColl’s has also given an update on current trading in which it revealed that strong demand for its local convenience offering led to like-for-like sales growth of 7.9% in the 12 weeks to 21 February 2021.
Miller added: “Despite the challenges presented by Covid-19, the new partnership represents another significant step forward in achieving our strategic goal of increasing our fresh food offering in our store estate, while offering the best value for money for our customers. We are well positioned to continue enhancing our convenience offer and improving the quality of our estate at a time when the importance of neighbourhood stores has never been greater.”
