SCOTMID, Scotland’s largest independent retail co-operative has posted a small increase in profit and an increase in turnover in its first-half figures, despite what the Society called a number of “negative factors” in the wider economy.
The firm made £2.1m operating profit for the 26 weeks ended 26th July, 2014, slightly ahead of the same period last year, on turnover of £212.3m, which was 1.2% higher than the equivalent period the year before.
The Society doesn’t publish figures for its different divisions but chief executive John Brodie told Scottish Grocer the company’s food stores had performed ahead of the market figures reported month by month by the Scottish Retail Consortium.
The declining food retail market, where fierce competition and intense promotional activity is putting serious pressure on prices, was one of the negative factors identified in the report.
But he said work to contain costs across the society’s operations had paid dividends. And continuing efforts to differentiate stores from competitors, particularly by partnerships with local bakers, including makers of artisan products, were going very well.
The group was also learning a great deal from trials of self-scanning tills, he added.
“Several months ago I said that we would take a measured approach to these continuing difficult times, making hard decisions where necessary but with the focus on the development of new initiatives and continuous improvement,” Brodie said
“This approach has enabled us to produce a satisfying set of results.”
