The Entrepreneur Award – supported by JTI
Winner: Shamly Sud, Director of GHSL Ltd
Interview with Shamly Sud, director of GHSL Ltd.
Winner details
Symbol: Premier RaceTrack Pitstop
Own-brand services: Tubbees desserts and sweet treats offering, VAPED4U vaping products range, Hoagies food-to-go section
- Shamly and the GHSL Ltd team have transformed their forecourts and convenience stores business in just five years – overcoming the challenges presented in recent times by both the Covid pandemic and the ongoing economic crisis.
- A creative imagination coupled with substantial investment has allowed the development of three successful own-brands – Tubbees, VAPED4U and Hoagies – that make the GHSL Ltd stores unique.
- Shamly has shown inventiveness across all aspects of the business, including store design and product displays, as well as stocking specialist products and items that are out of the ordinary.
- There’s a strong emphasis on sustainability, staff training and high standards – all of which help to create destination stores that more than meet the needs of the local communities they serve.
The vision and courage to innovate
ENTREPRENEURS see opportunities and follow them through. They have vision, show initiative and work with confidence – becoming driving forces within their industries.
And when the judges from Scottish Grocer and category supporter JTI got together, they knew they had found the ideal winner of the 2022 Entrepreneur Award in GHSL Ltd director Shamly Sud.
Running a business with a string of stores and forecourts in the west of Scotland under the Premier RaceTrack Pitstop name, Shamly has achieved many ambitious goals.
Indeed, the success of her company was reflected on the night of the Scottish Grocer Awards 2022.
Not only did Shamly win her own award, Premier RaceTrack Pitstop Glasgow (St James Road) collected the Innovation Award and Premier RaceTrack Pitstop Bearsden was named Sustainability Champion.
Meanwhile, GHSL Ltd was highly commended in the Symbol Store of the Year (Multiple Stores) category, as was the Bearsden shop and forecourt in the Independent Retailer of the Year class and the Glasgow site for the Best New Store Award.
When it came to the Entrepreneur gong, the guests at the glittering bash at the Hilton in Glasgow heard how Shamly had transformed her business in just five years.
And that was no mean feat given the turmoils of the Covid pandemic followed by the economic crisis.
But kilted comic and host Craig Hill told the audience that Shamly had shown truly innovative vision across all aspects of the company – and had certainly not been afraid to spend substantial sums of money to turn her aspirations into reality.
And that reality is quite simply stunning – with outlets that are lightyears ahead of what many consumers might expect to find when crossing the threshold of a convenience store.
Whether the investments have been made to radically refurbish a store or build a new premises, the result is always a one-stop shop that customers soon realise is a destination store rather than simply a place to pick up their daily essentials.
The entrepreneurial spirit goes well beyond that, too, as GHSL has created a number of its own brands – the most successful being its Tubbees sweet treats offering. With all the brands being sold at every site, it makes the stores unique.
The first major refit took place at the Ibrox site in Glasgow and Shamly explained: “We totally revamped the store, introducing our very own Tubbees and VAPED4U brands to the market.
“The refit cost about £500,000 – a crazy amount of money for purely internal fixtures and fittings, with no external works. But it proved extremely successful and reassured us that our vision and targets for the rest of our sites were achievable.
“We saw the demand and growth potential within our dessert offering and our larger format stores have more than 80 flavours of slush, aisles of imported sweets and treats, as well as a massive range of hot and cold desserts, with in-store made items taken to the next level.”
Shamly and her team also realised the potential of the vaping sector and boldly decided to put large VAPED4U stands on the shop floor.
She said: “Everyone said we were nuts but we always believed the stands had to be on the floor, not behind the counter. Our range rivals traditional vape stores and is also extremely competitive. We realised staff training was a must for this.”
GHSL has also launched its own Hoagies food-to-go brand, which offers the likes of hot dogs and bakes but with fresh toppings, plenty of sauce options, a hot nacho station and vegan coffee.
Shamly added: “Phase 2 for Hoagies will bring a more on-demand FTG offering, allowing customers to order from touchscreen menus and have their food made fresh to order.”
The GHSL director has also really thought outside the box to work with suppliers of goods that shoppers simply would not expect to find inside a convenience store.
Not only is the retail offering diverse, there is also a depth to the range of goods available in each area.
Citing two examples, she explained: “We’ve designated protein sections full of specialist products that would sometimes be unavailable or hard for shoppers to get. Working with brands such as Yankee Candle, we’ve brought a new selection of products to store that people would never even think to find inside a ‘petrol station’.”
And the investment goes well beyond the shops and stock. Money has been ploughed into developing the head office team, alongside training to ensure standards are as high as possible at all sites.
Environmentally friendly building features have also become an important aspect. Shamly said: “Our Bearsden site features state-of-the-art LED lighting and a complicated and expensive heat-exchange system that recycles hot air generated from equipment to heat the shop and store rooms.
“A harvester recycles rainwater from the roof to supply water to the jet washes and toilets. And we have solar panels covering the roof. Not only are we focused on the success of our retail offering but also our contribution to the local community and carbon footprint.”
The £2 million development has resulted in a destination store that is now visited by customers from far and wide – as well as capturing the interest of local consumers.
With the GHSL sites constantly being remerchandised and redesigned, ambitious plans include the franchise of Tubbees and expansion through the acquisition of new stores.
Shamly added: “I couldn’t have done it without the support from my team, our suppliers and, of course, my family. Without their support, the business would not be where it is now.
“We want the RaceTrack name to be associated with innovation in retail, reinventing what it is to be a convenience store.”
