The Scotfresh fascia is set to be more recognisable after owner Dynamic Retail revealed ambitious plans to expand its existing portfolio of eight stores as part of a strategy to establish the fascia as a major player in the Scottish retail marketplace. The company has set a target of 15 stores by this time next year.
Shaun Marwaha (pictured below), managing director of the award-winning Glasgow-based business, and current Scottish Local Retailer of the Year has confirmed that the company is looking at a number of potential new sites across the central belt as it seeks to make Scotfresh “the most exciting name in convenience retailing in Scotland” and have 15 stores by this time next year.
Marwaha, who runs Dynamic Retail with his parents, Jack and Rita, brought in ex-Booker retail development controller Chris Gallacher as retail operations manager six months ago to help restructure the business and develop its existing growth strategy which has food to go at its core. The business remains affiliated to the Premier group and is Booker’s biggest retail customer in the UK.
“We’ve enjoyed an exceptional relationship with Booker and continue to do so,” said Marwaha. “However, after taking the decision to grow the business very quickly – we had just three stores just over a year ago – we felt we wanted to shift the focus to our own convenience brand and develop our own identity in the marketplace.”
As well as four stores throughout Glasgow the company also has stores in Denny, Irvine, and most recently, in Armadale.
“Growth has been swift but we are very acquisitive and see a great future for the Scotfresh brand,” said Marwaha who confirmed that he was working with Christie & Co to locate sites. “We expect to open further outlets in the coming months.”
Marwaha confirmed that food to go will be a key strand of Scotfresh’s future growth strategy with kitchens going into every store. Both Denny and Armadale already have state-of-the-art kitchens and these stores are being used to create menus and experiment with different product lines.
Marwaha also wants to establish relationships with local bakers and butchers. “In many areas where we operate people have their favourite baker and butcher so we want to capitalise on this by bringing in some of these products,” he said. “This not only helps build loyalty and gives customers another reason to shop in your store, it also sends out a clear message that you are supporting other businesses at a time when consumers have an appetitive for localness and provenance.”
Another strategy proving successful for the business is its upweighted focus on staff training and accountability, with a robust in-house training programme allowing people to develop their skills and progress within the group. “We have 120 staff now so we’ve implemented a much more focused training structure which enables us to retrain staff quickly when we take over a new store,” Marwaha explained.
