Skip to content
Search
AI Powered
Latest Stories

JW Filshill new management team members to help business growth

Leading Glasgow-based wholesaler JW Filshill has appointed two new people to its management team in response to the huge profit growth during the coronavirus lockdown period.

Elaine Feeney joins the Glasgow-based company as west and south Scotland regional development manager after 17 years with Sainsbury’s as a retail commercial support manager.


Les Harvison comes to Filshill to take on the newly-created role of area development manager for the firm’s expanding Click & Collect operation.

He joins the company from Booker Wholesale where he was a retail development manager in Ayrshire and previously worked for Bestway Wholesale.

Both will report directly to Craig Brown, Filshill’s chief sales and marketing officer.

Speaking about the new team members, Mr Brown said: “We’re very much in a phase of growth just now and have welcomed a large number of new customers to the KeyStore family during the lockdown months so bringing in new talent will help us continue on that growth trajectory.

“Elaine and Les bring a combined wealth of retail and wholesale experience to the business along with a ‘can do’ attitude and desire to get results. As an experience retail operator with an outstanding track record focused around customer service, Elaine is ideally placed to help us achieve ambitious goals to grow the business.

“Having built valuable experience in non-food and specifically with Argos during her time at Sainsbury’s where ordering and collecting process is fast, efficient and innovative, Elaine will use this knowledge to move the Filshill Click & Collect service to the next level, working with Les in the new role of area development manager.

“By creating the role of area development manager for our Click & Collect operation we are confident that even more of our customers will benefit from a value-added service that has exceeded our expectations and been a much-needed service for many in recent months.

“As we ease further out of lockdown, we want ensure that customers can rely on us whichever way they choose to trade with us.

“KeyStore provides a strong brand identity in a busy convenience marketplace and our multi-format offer – comprising KeyStore, KeyStore Express and the KeyStore More fascia – offers retailers more flexibility to run their stores the way they want to.

“Elaine and Les will have an important role to play as we work in partnership with independent retailers to stimulate growth and increase profitability in a competitive convenience marketplace.”

Commenting on her new role, Ms Feeney said: “I’ve been aware of Filshill’s reputation for customer service and its innovative use of technology for a long time. It’s an ambitious business and I’m delighted to have the opportunity to be part of its future growth plans.”

Mr Harvison added: “For me, this is an excellent opportunity to join a forward-thinking wholesaler that is going places and has its customers at the core of everything it does.

“My broad-ranging experience with different companies over the years will put me in good stead as I work towards developing Filshill’s Click & Collect operation.”

Currently supplying over 190 independent KeyStore outlets across Scotland and the north of England, Filshill is a member of Unitas Wholesale.

More for you

Trade union calls for 'respect, decent break' for retail staff

iStock image

Trade union calls for 'respect, decent break' for retail staff

Retail trade union Usdaw today (23) called on the shopping public to show respect for shop workers, stating that the busy pre-Christmas shopping period leaves retail workers exhausted and in need of a proper break.

Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says, “By the time retail workers get to Christmas Eve, they will have been through a very busy run-up to Christmas. Our members tell us that incidents of verbal abuse are much worse in December and through to the New Year, when shops are busy, customers are stressed and things can boil over.

Keep ReadingShow less
iStock 1458055720
iStock image
iStock image

'Retailers must focus on prices as convenience channel poised to expand'

Grocers must focus on their price positioning to remain competitive as food and grocery spending in UK convenience stores is projected to outpace the hypermarkets, supermarkets, and discounters channel.

According to GlobalData, food and grocery spending in convenience stores is projected to reach £43.2 billion by 2028, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.0 per cent between 2024 and 2028.

Keep ReadingShow less
iStock 1137402716
iStock image
iStock image

‘Grocery tax’ to add £56 to food bills

The upcoming “grocery tax” could hit hard-pressed Britons in the pocket, adding up to £56 annually to household shopping bills and costing families as much as £1.4 billion a year, state reports on Sunday (22) citing a recent analysis.

The scheme, known as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), imposes a levy on retailers and manufacturers for the cost of collecting and disposing of packaging waste, currently funded via council tax.

Keep ReadingShow less
SPAR teams up with Preston primary school to spread festive cheer

SPAR teams up with Preston primary school to spread festive cheer

Ashton Primary School in Preston has teamed up with SPAR during the season of goodwill to donate delicious food to the city’s Foxton Centre.

The school’s Year 3 class enjoyed a cookery session baking pear and chocolate crumbles to take down to the Foxton Homeless Day Centre as a pre-Christmas treat for people who access its services.

Keep ReadingShow less
Cadbury removed from royal warrant list after 170 years

(Photo credit should read Leon Neal/AFP via Getty Images)

Cadbury removed from royal warrant list after 170 years

Cadbury’s has not been granted a royal warrant for the first time in 170 years after it got dropped from King Charles’s list of warrants.

Queen Victoria first awarded Cadbury with the title in 1854 which was then repeated by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1955 who was a huge lover of the chocolate.

Keep ReadingShow less