In his first interview in post, new SGF CEO Pete Cheema says it’s time the Federation was rebuilt from scratch with a renewed focus on retailers – and that’s exactly the challenge he is currently undertaking with the help of President Abdul Majid.
by Antony Begley
When rumours began quietly circulating a few months back that there was some major changes afoot at the Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF), very few in the local retailing industry in Scotland could honestly have predicted the root-and-branch rebuild of the Federation that’s currently underway. And make no mistake, this is no cosmetic makeoever: it’s the real deal, complete with a new organisational structure, a new Constitution and a new CEO.
There are many in the industry who had questioned whether the SGF had lost its way over the last decade but those quiet grumblings came to a head a year ago when Lanarkshire retailer Abdul Majid assumed the Presidency of SGF.
In just a few frenetic months, Majid has overseen the most significant overhaul of the SGF in living memory, driven by a desire to put independent retailers back at the heart of everything the Federation does.
The mild-mannered retailer is an unlikely agent provocateur, but it was undoubtedly Majid who started this ball rolling – and new CEO Pete Cheema is quick to open this interview with an acknowledgement of this fact: “I’ve only been in the new role for a few weeks and we’ve already made huge progress on a number of issues that Abdul and I see as core to rebuilding SGF, but none of this would have happened without Abdul. Very early in his Presidency he recognised that what the Federation needed was not a few tweaks here and there; he saw immediately that we needed to start from the ground up to build a new Federation that is fit for the 21st century.”
New dawn
Cheema took over from long-serving John Drummond as CEO of the organisation – a full time paid role – on April 1st, a transition made easier by Drummond’s resignation for personal reasons, but the new CEO hasn’t wasted any time in making his mark.
Such is his passion for the new role that Cheema has taken a sabbatical from running his Spar store in Alloa, leaving that in the more than capable hands of his wife Kay. Working hand in hand with Majid and SGF Vice President Dennis Williams, Cheema has set his stall out to put the independent retailer front and centre.
“Our focus at SGF has been firmly reset onto the independent retailers that the organisation was set up to represent,” says Cheema. “We know that it’s been difficult in recent years for SGF and for the industry, but that just means that we have to be even clearer on what our focus is – and we have to communicate that to the industry better than ever.”
Which is why Cheema and Majid asked SLR to come on board to work in partnership with SGF on a number of major initiatives including the relaunch of the SGF’s annual two day conference, the launch of a new golf day at St Andrew’s [see panel] and the revamp of a number of Federation publications and newsletters. SGF and SLR will also be working together on a number of new smaller scale, retailer-focused events throughout the year.
Possibly Cheema’s greatest achievement so far is in orchestrating a reworking of the SGF’s Constitution which, if ratified on May 27th as anticipated, will pave the way for much better relationships between the Federation, independent retailers and suppliers.
“As all independent retailers know, it’s never been tougher out there and the key to the industry thriving lies in partnership: partnership between everyone involved in the supply chain. But the constitution as it stood made it difficult to achieve true partnerships; the rewritten constitution resolves that and allows us all to work more closely than ever before towards a common goal.”
Powerful friends
Establishing closer, better working relationships with suppliers is key to a successful SGF and it’s something that Cheema feels has long been under-valued. He says: “In recent years we haven’t developed very strong relationships with suppliers. We’ve used them as sources of revenue but we haven’t given them value in return. For there to be a thriving Scottish local retailing industry we need to involve suppliers in what we do more efficiently. They have a lot to bring to the table and they have a vested interest in helping retailers succeed so it’s a no-brainer as far as I’m concerned.”
Similarly, Cheema sees giving all SGF Members value for their membership as vital to a healthy Federation and a healthy industry. “A lot of what we are doing right now and will be doing over the next few months is launching initiatives that will directly benefit all of our Members in real, concrete ways. Abdul and I have spent decades in local retailing so we understand the issues that retailers see as important, we know the areas where they need help – and we are now in a position to be able to give them that support.”
Cheema has spent the first few weeks meeting up with a huge amount of suppliers in the industry, including a mammoth session of 23 meetings in under two days at the recent National Convenience Show in Birmingham. A punishing schedule but one that Cheema sees as critical in really getting under the skin of his new role and letting the wider world know that SGF is becoming a very different animal.
New mantra
He describes his new four-pronged ‘mantra’ as advice, lobbying, communications and networking. “Those are the four areas that really define what SGF should be doing. It’s in those areas that we’ll be focusing but we know that we have to raise our game right across the board. Everything SGF does has to be done better, we have to be ambitious.”
As part of his ambition to make SGF more transparent and more visible, the SGF website is being fully rebuilt and will be formally unveiled on May 14th in Edinburgh. The site embodies the new more retailer-focused SGF approach, including a Members’ page and a host of new sections and upgrades.
Also high on Cheema’s to-do list is developing the team within SGF, an area he feels has gone untouched for some time. “Our staff here have to feel valued and to do that they have to be involved in what we do at a deeper level. The transparency I want to introduce extends to them too; I want my team to be able to get involved in more decision-making and bring their skills and expertise to the party.”
The new CEO fully intends to grow the headcount at Federation House next year to build a more robust team to deliver the many new initiatives in the pipeline.
The SGF Conference is back – better than ever!
Once the highlight of the annual Scottish local retailing calendar, the two-day SGF Conference was downgraded a couple of years ago to a much smaller single day event. Since then the industry has been sadly lacking in genuine opportunities for retailers, wholesalers and suppliers to get together and spend a couple of days sharing ideas, learning and socialising.
But the great news is that the SGF Conference is back! SGF has partnered with SLR to relaunch the two-day conference later this year at a truly spectacular venue!
Gogarburn is RBS’s phenomenal global headquarters, purpose built on the outskirts of Edinburgh near the airport and it will host the business sessions of this year’s conference.
It’s a ‘money-can’t-buy’ venue that’s not available to normal commercial bodies but with RBS as a Member of SGF now, a deal has been done to allow us to host the conference there.
The remainder of the conference and the accommodation will be at nearby Dalmahoy, the plush hotel and conference centre just a few minutes away.
Managed by the same team that produces the SLR Rewards and the Work Hard / Play Hard events, in conjunction with the team at SGF, the conference is once more set to be a highlight of the year.
We have a number of sponsorship and commercial opportunities available and we will soon be opening the ticket bookings line. To find out more, email Antony at abegley@55north.com or call 0141 222 5380.
“I don’t apologise for saying that I believe SGF had lost its way over the years and it wasn’t delivering what it should have been delivering,” ponders Cheema. “But I include myself in that and I must share part of the blame as an ex-President from 2006 to 2008 and a long-standing National Executive member. But the time has come to turn this ship around and start delivering for our Members again. The Scottish local retailing industry needs a strong SGF and it’s my job to deliver that.”
Cheema admits openly that it’s been a traumatic period for many people over the last few months but stands firm in his belief that real change is overdue if SGF is to remain relevant.
“I know that we have a lot of inertia to overcome in order to get retailers back on board and really believing in SGF again,” he concludes. “But all I would ask everyone in the Scottish local retailing industry to do is judge us by our actions. This isn’t change for the sake of change, it’s change for the good of this industry and everyone in it.”