Judges of a highly prestigious national awards scheme have awarded Henderson Retail for outpacing the growth of the NI grocery market in 2023.

It comes as the company, part of the Henderson Group, which owns and operates 107 SPAR, EUROSPAR and ViVO branded stores in Northern Ireland, picked up the Grocer Gold Award for Independent Retail Chain for the third time in the past four years.

Henderson Retail delivered a 16.5% rise in sales in 2023 compared to the 12.5% growth of the entire sector, partly driven by additions to the company estate. Six EUROSPAR supermarkets were added to the portfolio last year, while the company invested in 71 refurbishment projects across its network.

As part of the Henderson Group, Henderson Retail stores have been able to offer shoppers value on the shelves, thanks to a significant investment in pricing over the past two years, with a particular focus on everyday essentials such as bread and milk.

Judges of the awards, which took place at London’s Royal Albert Hall and are considered the crème de la crème of the grocery industry, also referenced Henderson Retail’s investment into reward schemes and pay for staff across all levels of the business, in their citations.

Mark McCammond, Retail Director at Henderson Group who accepted the award in London alongside Group Joint Managing Director, Geoffrey Agnew said; “Winning this award for the third time in four years is testament to the hard work and dedication of our entire team in raising the standards for community retailing. Our company is the fastest growing food retail group in Northern Ireland, a product of sound strategies set against consumer demand.

“We are in the middle of a key five year strategic plan where we are committed to being the ‘go to’ for fresh, locally sourced products in the local community, investing in bringing value to our shoppers’ doorsteps, listening to our shoppers and providing unrivalled customer service and rewarding our colleagues for relentless hard work, particularly in the face of challenges in recent years.”

Grocer Gold judges also applauded Henderson Retail for its “focus on technology and innovative retail concepts”, with a nod to the company’s roll out of an AI-powered automated stock replenishment system and more electronic shelf-edge labelling.

Mr McCammond also says their continued diversification of services and products available in-store has yielded sales growth in stores; “We have continued to roll out the Delish deli brand across our network, bringing even more food to go options for our shoppers. Many of our stores are busy forecourts where efficiency and satisfaction are top priorities, so providing such new concepts as burrito bars and pizza bars and our scratch bakery concept brings facilities not seen within smaller communities.

“The Henderson Foodservice owned Barista Bar Coffee to Go offering has grown in recent months too, thanks to the development of the mobile app, which provides our shoppers with even more value and efficiency at the checkouts.”

Also shortlisted for the Independent Retail Chain of the Year award were Green’s Retail in Scotland, James Convenience Retail in Chesterfield, Jempsons in the south of England, Oseyo in London and Sterling Meat Company in Hull.

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