ONE of the SWA conference’s most warmly received speakers was Booker CEO Charles Wilson, who gave a presentation on his company’s recent acquisition of Londis and Budgens, just weeks after it was announced.
Describing his excitement over the £40m deal to buy Musgrave Retail Partners GB, he said: “As the British consumer fragments and the Scottish consumer fragments, diets change, portion sizes change,and it all means the consumer is going to become more demanding.
“By Booker and Londis coming together we are going to help the independents prosper. Musgraves has had a difficult time in Great Britain, but they have great people and great supply chains and by joining Booker they will do better and we will do better.
“What it allows us to do, we hope, is to offer independent retailers a better way of serving consumers. It will help to give the choice, the price, the service that retailers need.”
