Remarkably, David’s Kitchen has never won the Scottish Local Retailer of the Year title before, a fact that only dawned on me when it was unanimously agreed that the ground-breaking business was the winner of this year’s top prize at the SLR Awards.
The brainchild of one of Scotland’s most successful local retailers, David’s Kitchen first came to life more than a decade ago after David Sands had sold his eponymous chain of stores to the Co-operative Group and his post-sale contractual obligations not to darken the door of convenience retailing had lapsed.
His concept for the new business was unique: a convenience business of sorts but majoring on food to go. Always a progressive, ambitious retailer, David has spent many years touring the globe on store safaris and had become convinced that food to go was the way forward. At the time it seemed, frankly, a bit nuts. Ten or 11 years ago, if you recall, food to go just wasn’t a thing in local retailing. Maybe a hotdog machine here or a little bake-off and hot hold there – but that was about it.
In the intervening years the business grew and grew and, lo and behold, food to go became ‘a thing’ in local retailing. Then, in the run up to Covid, it arguably became ‘The Thing’. Retailers couldn’t get into it quick enough.
The problem with food to go, however, as anyone who has tried it will tell you, is that it is hard. It’s very profitable when done well but it is hard, expensive and risky to do it properly – and the thing is, you have to do it properly or you’re essentially wasting your time. Food to go requires commitment, patience and relatively deep pockets. It takes years to educate your customer base and build enough volume to ensure that your chillers and hot holds are pleasingly fully stocked without panicking about throwing three-quarters of it in the bin. And this is where David’s Kitchen has excelled. Under Keith Fernie and Diane Greenough, they’ve done the hard yards, they’ve made all the learnings, and they did it all many years before everyone else.
Along the way they’ve also learned a few tricks. Providing external catering services, for example, is now a major part of the business. But what the judges saw during the on-the-road judging for the SLR Awards were immaculate stores, ridiculously high standards and a business that’s really in its stride. And that’s down to Keith, Diane and their exceptional team who continue to strive for perfection, continue to innovate and continue to meet the demands of today’s shoppers. A first-class business run by a first-class team and very, very worthy winners in my opinion.
If you haven’t visited one of their stores recently, I would strongly urge you to do so. This is what singular commitment to a challenging long-term strategy looks like.
Antony Begley, Publishing Director, SLR
Dream team
Remarkably, David’s Kitchen has never won the Scottish Local Retailer of the Year title before, a fact that only dawned on me when it was unanimously agreed that the ground-breaking business was the winner of this year’s top prize at the SLR Awards.
The brainchild of one of Scotland’s most successful local retailers, David’s Kitchen first came to life more than a decade ago after David Sands had sold his eponymous chain of stores to the Co-operative Group and his post-sale contractual obligations not to darken the door of convenience retailing had lapsed.
His concept for the new business was unique: a convenience business of sorts but majoring on food to go. Always a progressive, ambitious retailer, David has spent many years touring the globe on store safaris and had become convinced that food to go was the way forward. At the time it seemed, frankly, a bit nuts. Ten or 11 years ago, if you recall, food to go just wasn’t a thing in local retailing. Maybe a hotdog machine here or a little bake-off and hot hold there – but that was about it.
In the intervening years the business grew and grew and, lo and behold, food to go became ‘a thing’ in local retailing. Then, in the run up to Covid, it arguably became ‘The Thing’. Retailers couldn’t get into it quick enough.
The problem with food to go, however, as anyone who has tried it will tell you, is that it is hard. It’s very profitable when done well but it is hard, expensive and risky to do it properly – and the thing is, you have to do it properly or you’re essentially wasting your time. Food to go requires commitment, patience and relatively deep pockets. It takes years to educate your customer base and build enough volume to ensure that your chillers and hot holds are pleasingly fully stocked without panicking about throwing three-quarters of it in the bin. And this is where David’s Kitchen has excelled. Under Keith Fernie and Diane Greenough, they’ve done the hard yards, they’ve made all the learnings, and they did it all many years before everyone else.
Along the way they’ve also learned a few tricks. Providing external catering services, for example, is now a major part of the business. But what the judges saw during the on-the-road judging for the SLR Awards were immaculate stores, ridiculously high standards and a business that’s really in its stride. And that’s down to Keith, Diane and their exceptional team who continue to strive for perfection, continue to innovate and continue to meet the demands of today’s shoppers. A first-class business run by a first-class team and very, very worthy winners in my opinion.
If you haven’t visited one of their stores recently, I would strongly urge you to do so. This is what singular commitment to a challenging long-term strategy looks like.
Antony Begley, Publishing Director, SLR
Share on
Read next
New directions
Anti-social
’Mon the Scotland!