IT’S full steam ahead at United Wholesale Grocers (UWG), with the Glasgow-based wholesaler continuing to develop its fascia offer, while continually pushing to improve customer service.
That was the message from Tom Slaven, retail director at UWG, who said the business “has evolved in many ways” over the past 12 months.
“We have retainer our customer base as well as recruiting some great retailers and that has helped deliver our growth.
“Our retailer recruitment has stepped up over the past few years in terms of the right retailer for our brand and business.
“One of our objectives in the process is to ensure that UWG and the retailer are completely aligned in terms of execution and compliance,” he said.
The key goal at UWG, Slaven said, is to provide great customer service whatever challenges come over the horizon.
“This is a part of our business that we can control and we keep the focus right there.
“The uncontrollable components are a challenge, as an industry and a nation, we can get bogged down with such issues when the reality is we cannot influence the outcome, therefore we tend to stay focussed on what we can control and by doing so we deliver on a great service for our retailers.
“This has proven to be successful as we are still enjoying growth, our retail estate has increased and our Cash and Carry footfall has risen year on year,” he said.
One area where UWG has sought to evolve its offer is in a refresh of its Shopsmart fascia, as Slaven explained: “Due to the strength of our current fascia along with some market research we discovered that our original own symbol group fascia of Shopsmart was one that really resonated with retailers, shoppers and consumers alike.
“It was evident that now was the time to freshen up the original logo, colours and design to give it a more contemporary look and feel.”
