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Heeding the call

1 August 2017

SGF wants Govt support for Police Scotland as shoplifting hits record high

Debbie and Andy Townsend (above) moved from Birmingham to Laide five years ago and took over the local Post Office and forecourt. In a small community, many miles from the nearest supermarket, they are relied on for a lot more than the average corner shop, but have risen to the challenge of meeting the needs of their customers.

Best Laide plans

The main bakery fixture at Spar, Hillfoot Road in Ayr takes a prime position in Aisle 1 of the store. Wrapped bread and loose rolls take up the first section of the fixture. As consumers make their way down the aisle they pass morning goods in the second fixture section. The substantial local popularity of cake means those products take a large space in the third segment. To make way for the cakes, Spar-branded part-baked bread and world breads are merchandised in a free-standing display unit at the start of the fixture, and the products do well there. The main fixture ends with bake-off products.

Award profile – Bread and Bakery of the Year Award 2014

Spirits move bears fruit for Kopparberg

Is sugar next in line to be given public-enemy stauts by health activists and lobbyists? The white stuff has featured in a number of statements from a variety of organisations in recent weeks. But director of the Scottish Food and Drink Federation Colette Backwell reckons the media heat and light is unhelpful while food producers and others await the release in the summer of in-depth scientific analysis of the effects on diet of sugar and other carbohydrates.

Wait for the facts on sugar

8 April 2014

THE launch of the new health non-governmental organisation Action on Sugar in January sparked a media furore around sugars which continues to dominate headlines...

SG Profile: Spar Errol

1 September 2017

Retailer Rana Ali has carved himself out a slice of countryside life in the village of Errol in Perthshire after seven years at his shop in Carmyle in Glasgow

Awards profile – Best Soft Drink Outlet of the Year

5 June 2019

Winner: Clydebank Co-op Keystore Kilbowie Supported by: Coca-Cola European Partners

Living the local dream

2 December 2016

Facing a major challenge when Aldi opens nearby, Dennis and Linda Williams are examining their business, stressing its local character, boosting chilled, offering everyday...

Doing a fair trade

1 October 2014

Winner: Spar, Logans Road, Motherwell Collectables Retailer of the Year Award 2014 – in association with Topps. Interview with Kashain Arshad, manager, above left, and Asif...

Wendy Morrell, second right, and her husband Malcolm, second left, receive the 2013 Merchandising Award, run in association with P&G, at the 2013 Scottish Grocer Awards presentation event.

Awards profile – Merchandising award 2013

8 April 2014

Our winner: life and times Wendy Morrell – Scottish Grocer Merchandising Award winner 2013 – in association with P&G Store details: Symbol: Best-one Size: 800 sq ft Opening...

SG Convenience Conversations: Keeping up with change

1 October 2018

For the latest in our Convenience Conversation series, Scottish Grocer invited a select group of retailers, suppliers, wholesalers and EPOS firms to Dundee

Awards profile – confectionery retailer of the year

6 May 2013

WHEN Mohammed Asif opened his Spar convenience store in Forfar in May 2011, on the site of a former kitchen showroom that had been...

Blas Maquivar will be president, Mars Chocolate UK.

New face for chocolate giant

1 December 2014

MARS has a new UK chocolate chief: Blas Maquivar will take up the role of president Mars Chocolate UK & Global Retail next month. ...

Retailing in the Isles

2 March 2017

Following the publication of the ACS Rural Shop report, Scottish Grocer spoke to retailers in the Outer Hebrides to ask them what they consider...

Plastic strategy will affect retail

1 February 2020

LATE last year CMS teamed up with the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) to host an event in Edinburgh, looking at the affect of plastic waste regulations on the nation’s food and drink sector.

Maddock in at Caledonian

5 March 2014

CALEDONIAN Brewing Company has appointed Andy Maddock as its managing director. Maddock, who begins his new role this month, takes over from Stephen Crawley who...