Bestway Wholesale Explained

Bestway Wholesale Holdings Limited
Type:Subsidiary
Private Limited Company
Location:England, UK
Key People:Younus Sheikh (Chairman)
Dawood Pervez (Managing Director)
Brands:Costcutter, Best-one, Bargain Booze and Mace
Parent:Bestway Group
Industry:Retail catering
Products:Cash and carry outlets

Bestway Wholesale Holdings Limited is a British food and drink wholesale business, founded in 1976 by Sir Anwar Pervez.

The business also owns a number of symbol retail identities, including Costcutter, Bargain Booze, Best-one and Mace.

History

In 1976 Sir Anwar Pervez established Bestway Wholesale's first wholesale warehouse in Acton, West London. This was followed by warehouses in Southall (1981), Hackney (1983), Park Royal (1984) before expansion around the country.

Bestway Wholesale also acquired Bashin Cash & Carry in 1984, Crown Crest Limited in 1987 and Link Cash & Carry in 1988.[1]

In January 2005 Bestway Group Chief Executive Zameer Choudrey CBE led the acquisition of Batleys plc for £100 million.[2] Batleys contributed towards expanding the Group's market share by 50%. An Office of Fair Trading report published soon after the acquisition stated that the merged entity was the fourth largest national grocery wholesaler in the UK, with a 9.9% share of supply in grocery wholesaling as a whole and 15.9% share of supply in cash & carry alone.[3]

In addition to organic growth over the years, Bestway Wholesale acquired Bellevue Cash & Carry's two warehouses in Edinburgh and Stirling in June 2010.[4] [5] In November 2010 the Group went on to acquire the Martex Group[6] of three cash & carry warehouses and its food service operation from C J Lang.

In April 2014, the Group acquired Glasgow-based wholesaler Sher Brothers[7] and merged Sher Brothers into the Batleys brand.[8]

In April 2018, the company purchased the assets and brands of Conviviality Retail from administrators PwC for £7.25m. PwC partner Matthew Callaghan said: ‘This deal safeguards the jobs of more than 2,000 employees.[9]

In June 2018, the company acquired two Blakemore Wholesale's warehouses in Cardiff and Walsall.[10]

In December 2020, the company acquired symbol operator Costcutter Supermarkets Group for an undisclosed fee from Bibby Line Group. The Costcutter operations initially become part of Bestway's retail arm. This involved the integration of around 1,500 stores branded Costcutter, Mace, Supershop, Kwiksave and Simply Fresh, along with 20 Costcutter and four Co-op franchise stores.[11]

In January 2021, Bestway Wholesale introduced two new symbol group off-licence brands, Tippl and BB's.[12]

In February 2022, Bestway Wholesale Managing Director Dawood Pervez indicated that it was considering consolidating all its symbol groups under four brands: Best-one, Costcutter, Bargain Booze and Wine Rack.[13] This was confirmed in December 2022.[14]

In August 2023, Bestway Wholesale re-branded the 22 Batleys sites under its own name.[15]

Operations

Current operations

Bestway Wholesale is the UK's second largest food wholesaler. It consists of several divisions each specialising in different areas of the wholesale market in the United Kingdom and also operates in the UK retail sector through a number of different branded symbol franchise outlets:

Current operations of Bestway Wholesale Holdings Limited!Name!Description!Ownership
Bargain BoozeA symbol group of independent off-licence stores in the United Kingdom.100%
BB FoodserviceA food catering delivery service in the United Kingdom.100%
Best-oneA symbol group of independent convenience stores in the United Kingdom.100%
BestpetsA trade-only supplier of pet products in the United Kingdom.100%
Bestway ExportA United Kingdom wholesaler of British products around the world.100%
Bestway Vans DirectA distribution network delivery service in the United Kingdom.100%
Bestway WholesaleA cash and carry and delivery company in the United Kingdom.100%
CostcutterA symbol group of independent convenience stores in the United Kingdom.100%
MaceA symbol group of independent convenience stores in Great Britain.100%
SimplyFreshA symbol group of independent convenience stores in the United Kingdom.19.5%
Supershop (Northern Ireland)A symbol group of independent convenience stores in Northern Ireland.100%
Wine RackA symbol group of independent off-licence stores in the United Kingdom.100%
Xtra LocalA depot-run promotional club in the United Kingdom.100%

Former operations

Former operations of Bestway Wholesale Holdings Limited!Name!Description!Ownership
BatleysA defunct cash and carry and delivery company in the United Kingdom. Re-branded as Bestway Wholesale in 2023.100%
BB'sA defunct symbol group of independent off-licence stores in the United Kingdom. Re-branded as Bargain Booze in 2022.100%
Central Convenience StoresA defunct symbol group of independent convenience stores in the United Kingdom. Re-branded as either Best-one or Costcutter in 2022.100%
Kwik SaveA defunct symbol group of independent convenience stores in the United Kingdom. Re-branded as either Best-one or Costcutter in 2022.100%
Select ConvenienceA defunct symbol group of independent convenience stores in the United Kingdom. Re-branded as either Best-one or Costcutter in 2022.100%
Supershop (Great Britain)A defunct symbol group of independent convenience stores in Great Britain. Re-branded as Costcutter in 2022.100%
TipplA defunct symbol group of independent off-licence stores in the United Kingdom. Re-branded as Wine Rack in 2022.100%

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Big Interview: Zameer Choudrey. Neil. Trainis. 14 October 2015. pharmacy.biz. 30 January 2019.
  2. News: Finance . Bestway pays £100m cash to carry off rival chain . Telegraph . 30 January 2005. 2015-12-14.
  3. Web site: Completed acquisition by Bestway (Holdings) Limited of Batleys Limited. http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140402163222/http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/mergers/decisions/2005/bestway. dead. 2 April 2014. Mediasurface. Administrator. 9 March 2010. The Office of Fair Trading. 30 January 2019.
  4. Web site: Bestway Takes Over Bellevue . Scotland Food and Drink . 2010-06-22 . 2015-12-14.
  5. Web site: Peter Cripps . Bestway snaps up Scots wholesaler Bellevue . Thegrocer.co.uk . 2010-06-21 . 2015-12-14.
  6. Web site: Beth Brooks . Bellevue and Martex swell Bestway's sales . Thegrocer.co.uk . 2011-10-22 . 2015-12-14.
  7. Web site: Beth Brooks . How Bestway transformed its Glasgow depot: in pictures . Thegrocer.co.uk . 2014-08-01 . 2015-12-14.
  8. Web site: Beth Brooks . Bestway buys Glasgow wholesaler Sher Bros . Thegrocer.co.uk . 2014-04-04 . 2015-12-14.
  9. News: Bestway primed to save 2,000 more jobs with deal for Conviviality retail arm. Bradley. Gerrard. The Telegraph. 6 April 2018. 30 January 2019. www.telegraph.co.uk.
  10. Web site: Bestway picks up Blakemore depots in Cardiff and Walsall . Emily . Bright . 15 Jun 2018 . TheGrocer.co.uk . 30 January 2019.
  11. Web site: Bestway snaps up Costcutter for undisclosed fee.
  12. Web site: Bestway's Tippl and BB's concepts: Braving a new retail approach. Sonya. Hook. 22 January 2021. Drinks Retailing. 7 October 2023.
  13. Web site: Dawood Pervez: determining the Bestway forward. 8 February 2022. Cash & Carry Management. 9 October 2023.
  14. Web site: Bestway to consolidate symbol portfolio into Costcutter, Best-one, Bargain Booze and Wine Rack. Alex. Yau. 6 December 2022. Better Retailing. 7 October 2023.
  15. Web site: Batleys depots rebranded to Bestway. Alex. Yau. 30 August 2023. Better Retailing. 7 October 2023.