in focus
Togetherness is the way forward Mervyn Gilbert meets Sud Patel, managing director of Bolton cash & carry/ wholesaler Turner & Wrights. ‘Strength in numbers’ is a term that is uttered by Sud (short for Sudhir) Patel, when asked about the success of one of the leading dual-purpose operators in the north-west. As managing director of Turner & Wrights, a longstanding member of Today’s Group and of Sugro, which it joined in 2000, he runs a £65m turnover business, which last year saw takings grow by 10%. It’s a progression that is destined to continue with the ambitious programme mapped out by Kitwave, the company which has been its parent since 2006 and which now has six constituents, including four other Sugro affiliates. “The advantage of being owned by Kitwave,” says Patel, “is that we can buy in greater bulk and obtain better deals. It’s a case of strength in numbers.” The purchasing benefits will grow even more if Kitwave carries on expanding. The two most recent additions, Teatime Tasties and Automatic Vending, became part of the group within the past 18 months and there is no reason to suppose that other wholesalers won’t join them in the foreseeable future, adding to Kitwave’s total income of around £200m. Patel is a prime example of someone who has risen from the shop floor to become top man. Aged 39, he joined the company 16 years ago – his first job – after reading business information and technology at Preston University. He is quick to tell you that he only spent a year at the educational establishment, suggesting that he was itching to make money rather than gain a degree. “The job was advertised in my local job centre,” he says. “I started by filling shelves and sweeping up. They certainly wouldn’t let me near the till!” A major promotion came in 2005 when he became senior buyer, and last year he was appointed managing director after his predecessor, John Hope, was named Kitwave operations director. Among the 72 staff reporting to him are assistant md Bob Fife, sales manager John Shaw and operations manager
Company background In the ‘80s, Bury entrepreneur Steve Turner began a small wholesale business called Five Star Foods. In 2001, he acquired the assets of Wrights of Horwich, a long-established drinks wholesaler, which had gone into liquidation. In the same year, Turner relocated Five Star Foods to Bolton and changed the company name to Turner & Wrights.
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• Cash & Carry Management • July 2013
Sud Patel checks a Turner & Wrights promotional leaflet.
Martin Gilmore. Another colleague is David Udall, who is Kitwave’s financial controller, but who spends most of his time at T&W’s site. The wholesaler has undergone a series of changes since its founding (see background below), assuming its present title after the turn of the century. Dealing in ambient food only, its major categories are soft drinks, alcohol, crisps, confectionery and tobacco. The 35,000 sq ft depot operates partially as a cash & carry, from which goods are picked for delivery. C&C accounts for just 10% of the turnover and delivered wholesale the rest. The minimum drop is 25 cases. All 2,000 customers are retailers, including just over 100 who belong to Sugro’s Sweetbreak club, through which they can receive planograms and special deals every six weeks, as well as standard promotions. C&C/wholesale opposition in an area stretching from Carlisle in the north to Telford in the south, plied by T&W’s 17 vehicles (including vans and 26-tonners), include Booker, Bestway, Parfetts and Palmer & Harvey. While Patel says he can live with most of the tobacco problems – “they’ve been around for such a long time” – he is more vocal when it comes to the matter of alcohol duty fraud. Asked whether trade bodies have made an imprint on the situation, he replies: “I don’t think they’ve made a great deal of difference.”
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