pladis Global CEO Salman is interviewed by Asian Trader and tells us about his life, career in brands, and the secrets of success in a worldwide grocery business
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Me and My Brand: Vince Lawson of Biotiful Gut Health
We believe natural Gut Health is the catalyst for good health and want to make this accessible for all. Kefir is one of the most natural ways to improve Gut Health and our Kefir is made using the highest quality ingredients, our unique blend of live cultures and no artificial additives.
How is your brand currently performing?
Biotiful is performing really strongly! We’re growing at +41per cent1, making us the fastest growing yogurt brand in the UK. We’re the #1 brand in Kefir overall, have #1 best-selling products in both Kefir Drinks and Kefir Spoonable – and are now the ninth largest Yogurt brand in the UK. Watch out #8, we’re coming for you!
How is the Kefir market currently performing?
Gut Health has truly entered the mainstream: 84 per cent of consumers are now actively managing – or recognising the need to manage – their Gut Health 2.
Consumers are increasingly recognising Kefir as the most natural Gut Health solution (46 per cent of consumers). As a result, the Kefir market is up +33 per cent in value YOY, and is the fastest growing category in dairy in both value and volume3.
It’s incredible to think that before Biotiful, the Kefir category didn’t exist in the UK – and now it’s worth over £100m.
Do you have any new product development?
We continue to lead innovation in natural Gut Health and Kefir, which has been a major driver of our growth over the last year with a number of world first innovations. For example, our two new Kefir Overnight Oats products – the first time that anyone has combined the Gut Health benefits of Kefir and the trending breakfast dish with fibre-rich oats and fruit.
We’ve also launched our new High-Protein Kefir Drinks range, with 20g natural protein per serving, recognising that there is a huge consumer demand for natural protein without additives, plus the added benefits of Gut Health.
And if that wasn’t enough, we’re also taking Gut Health out of the chiller and into the ambient aisle with the launch of our versatile Gut Health Meal Boosters – combining our unique blend of live cultures with fibre-rich oats that can be added to any meal.
How are you supporting your brand and NPD?
2024 saw the launch of our biggest national campaigns to date, including TV and outdoor advertising. We have also worked extensively with influencers and ambassadors – taking them on their own Gut Health journeys to demonstrate the positive impact regular Kefir consumption can have on their lives.
We’re also delighted to be working with the elite performance nutritionists at many of the UK’s leading sporting teams as they recognise the importance of good Gut Health in improving athletic performance. We’re now the Official Gut Health partner of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, Gloucester Rugby, British Judo and British Taekwondo.
Industry recognition is also important to us, so we’re particularly pleased to see the brand receiving two Great Taste Awards, a Quality Food Award and eight Grocer New Product Awards in 2024 – showing that consumers can improve their Gut Health without compromising on quality or taste.
How important are independent retailers to your brand?
There are 40,000 Convenience stores covering the whole breadth of the UK – this is a key route to market for the Biotiful brand. Consumers are demanding natural Gut Health solutions so it’s great to see Independent Retail getting on board with that as a trend.
At a recent FED roundtable, convenience stores told us that their shoppers want healthier options for on-the-go. As a result, we’ve put together a Brand Ambassador programme within Independent Retail – working with specific convenience stores to put Gut Health at the forefront for their shoppers. This has already had a positive impact on sales – and we will look to continuing this into 2025.
What trends are occurring in the sector?
One key trend is the area of in-store merchandising. In recent years we’ve seen all the grocery retailers establishing specific Gut Health bays in store to make it easier for their shoppers to find Gut Health solutions – with some retailers creating specific Kefir bays.
Now this trend has started within convenience retail as well – with more and more Independent retailers establishing Gut Health areas within their dairy fixtures, making it easier for shoppers in this sector to find what they are looking for.
Describe your brand in three words …
Natural. Delicious. Authentic.
1 Circana, 29.9.24(latest 12 weeks)
2 MAC research 2024, Onepoll 2024
3 Circana, 29.9.24(latest 12 weeks)
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Me and My Brand: Bal Tung of Nido
How is your brand currently performing?
Nido continues to go from strength to strength, with the full year projection for 2024 for the total range being worth over £36m RSV. Over half of Nido sales comes from the wholesale and convenience channel, showing just how important independent retailers are to Nido.
How is the World Food market currently performing?
The World Foods category is worth £670m, growing at +14 per cent CAGR2, Nido plays within Oriental, Afro-Caribbean and Asian which are all growing segments, as non-EU net migration continues to grow. Within the World Foods category, positive macro indicators suggest this growth trend will continue with net migration at 685k over the last year3, this is a great time to grow your World Foods offering within your stores!
How are you supporting your brand and NPD?
We support Nido with recipes and inspiration throughout the year. The key campaign which is live NOW is “Light up your sales with Nido”. Nido is relevant throughout the year but during Diwali, Nido is traditionally used in recipes and for celebration. Diwali is celebrated by 1.5 million people in the UK every year4 so retailers being aware of the uplift to sales that stocking Nido during this period will provide, is key. We also run a “taste of home” campaign to remind shoppers of exactly that – that the Nido consumers loved in their childhood is available at their local shop!
How important are independent retailers to your brand?
Extremely important. The role these guys play in their communities and beyond makes these retailers our brand ambassadors in a way, so we need to ensure we support them directly. Local communities trust the products they buy from their shelves. Being an ex-retailer myself, I always try and ensure the decisions I make have the independent retailers in mind.
What trends are occurring in the sector?
The world foods category is split between shoppers who are looking to find a taste of home, and shoppers who are looking to explore different cuisines. Winning in this sector means providing relevant solutions for both of these groups, for which luckily Nido is your answer! Nido is a brand that shoppers recognise from home, and therefore stocking Nido will be an instant basket driver for shoppers. For explorational shoppers, we have social media content highlighting delicious recipes with Nido at the heart of them. Nido really is the answer to world foods!
Describe your brand in three words …
Taste of Home
1 Seed Qualitative Research 2019
2 IRI Total Stores 52 weeks to April 2024
3 Net migration to the UK– The Migration Observatory (ox.ac.uk)
4 Census 2021
A lifeline for the UK's grocery workers
“I've had a long, long association with the charity. I've been going to GroceryAid events, probably for the last 30 years, ever since I was 24-25,” Hemsworth reflects. “Of course, it wasn't called GroceryAid then.”
Founded as the National Grocers Benevolent Fund back in 1857, the charity has combined with several other trade charities over the years, and changed its name from Caravan to GroceryAid in October 2012, following the merger with The Confectioners Benevolent Fund.
Hemsworth’s career in the industry began as a graduate trainee at Unilever, where he cut his teeth in marketing and sales roles over eight years. From there, he moved to Coca-Cola Enterprises, now Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, where he held several senior positions, including sales director for Grocery and Impulse and vice president of marketing for Northwest Europe.
He then went on to lead Ginsters, the Cornish pasty company, for five years as managing director, overseeing a significant brand relaunch. A stint at PZ Cussons followed, running the UK and Europe business of the Carex, Imperial Leather and Original Source maker. It was after this role that Hemsworth decided to pursue an MBA, a decision that would ultimately lead him to GroceryAid.
“Whilst I was doing my MBA, I thought, I just want to do something a bit more purposeful,” he explains. The opportunity to lead GroceryAid presented itself as a compelling way to give back to the industry he had been part of for so long. “I'd had quite a lot of interaction with the charity whilst I was at Coca-Cola. I was on the president's fundraising committee for about three or four years,” he adds, demonstrating his deep connection to the charity.
Despite his success as a senior executive, Hemsworth felt the need to broaden his knowledge base, leading him to pursue an MBA later in his career. “When you get to a certain level in an organisation, there are all sorts of trends that are happening, but you never have the time to properly get to grips with those trends,” he notes.
The year at Bournemouth University allowed him to dive into crucial topics like sustainability and digital marketing, trends that were becoming increasingly relevant in the grocery sector.
“I thought it was going to be easy, but it wasn’t!” Hemsworth admits, reflecting on the rigorous academic work required. “It was quite tough, but extremely rewarding, and I learned so much.”
A year of remarkable impact
Under Hemsworth's leadership, GroceryAid has seen remarkable growth in both its reach and impact. The charity last year provided 78,000 “incidences of support”, a staggering 93 per cent increase from just two years ago. This surge in demand has been met with a corresponding increase in welfare spending, now exceeding £6 million per year.
“It just goes to show how much of a need is out there for a charity that looks after the welfare of the people that work within grocery,” he says. “I think we'll spend £6.5m this year, but we could only match the level of demand out there thanks to the generosity of the people who support us as a charity.”
One of Hemsworth’s key realisations during his first year was just how much GroceryAid had evolved in recent years. “The welfare team have done an amazing job to change our offer, which was originally focused more on pensioner beneficiaries, to one that’s much more focused on the needs of grocery workers and their families,” he notes.
This shift reflects the growing recognition that grocery workers require comprehensive support, and GroceryAid’s support comes in three forms: financial, emotional, and practical. This holistic approach ensures that beneficiaries receive comprehensive assistance tailored to their specific needs.
Financial support includes grants for those facing sudden income drops due to factors like illness, relationship breakdowns, or housing issues. The charity also offers one-off grants with a specific remit, such as the cost-of-living grants and school essentials grants. “If you're on benefits and you work within grocery, you can apply for £150 per child grant to ensure that children go back to school with a new school uniform and new kit, which is great,” Hemsworth says.
To receive financial support, people should have worked in the grocery industry consistently for the past six months.
Emotional support is another crucial pillar of GroceryAid’s offerings. The charity provides access to trained counselors through its care line, offering up to six counseling sessions for those struggling with mental health issues. They have also partnered with charities like Relate, which offers counselling for relationship problems and Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity.
“If you phone up our care line, you'll speak to a trained counselor, and that trained counselor work out what's the best route for the help that it's required. So, if you've had a relationship breakdown, they will put you into somebody like Relate. If you've got an issue with housing, they will put you in contact with Shelter,” he explains.
Practical support rounds out the charity's offer. This includes access to specialists who can provide guidance on tax issues, financial problems, and even legal matters. “We will pay for people’s legal advice,” Hemsworth says, highlighting the breadth of practical support available.
Reaching the Independent sector
While GroceryAid has made significant strides, one of the ongoing challenges is raising awareness of the charity’s services, particularly among frontline grocery workers. “We did some research where we talked about the sort of services that we offer, and only 18 per cent of frontline grocery workers had heard of GroceryAid,” Hemsworth reveals.
This statistic is a driving force behind Hemsworth's ambitious vision for the charity. “Our vision is to help everybody within the grocery industry that needs us,” he states emphatically. “Now we think that is roughly 10 per cent of people who work in the industry. So instead of the 78,000 instances of support, we think actually what we should be helping is about 260,000.”
To bridge this awareness gap, Hemsworth and his team are approaching GroceryAid “a little bit like a consumer brand.” This involves not only leveraging their existing supporters to spread the word but also venturing into paid media on digital platforms, targeting frontline grocery workers through platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
A significant focus for Hemsworth and GrocryAid is expanding the charity's reach to independent retailers and their staff - a sector, often characterised by smaller operations and tighter margins, which can be particularly vulnerable to financial and emotional stresses. As he took the reins at the organisation last year, his immediate action was to launch a leaflet aimed at raising awareness among independent stores.
“Last year, from a financial grant perspective, we helped just over 650 people working in the independent sector, and we spent about £350,000 on financial support for them,” Hemsworth shares. “On the care line, we helped about 900 people who work in the independent sector.”
However, he acknowledges that this is just scratching the surface of the potential need. “If you take that as a percentage of the totality, it's not enough, and we want to grow it,” he says.
To boost awareness among independent retailers, GroceryAid offers free promotional materials. “If you run an independent store and you want to use our services, you can download from our website posters, leaflets and wallet cards to put up in store, we will send you all of this,” Hemsworth explains. “All you need to do is supply your name and address, and these services are open to everybody who works within your store. It's a great welfare offer for everybody.”
Independent retailers, often family-run businesses, face a unique set of challenges. The charity is careful to differentiate between personal financial struggles and business challenges. While the charity cannot provide direct financial support to save failing businesses, it does offer practical advice on managing business debt.
“Part of the practical offer that we have is how you manage small business debt and issues relating to the financial performance for a smaller business with advice,” Hemsworth notes. This practical advice can be a lifeline for retailers juggling both business and personal financial hardships, offering them a way to navigate their difficulties with professional guidance.
He also touches on a critical issue within any charitable organisation providing financial aid -ensuring that the support does not unintentionally enable harmful behaviors such as gambling. “We don’t like to turn people down, but we would turn somebody down if there is a high level of gambling, on the bank statements,” Hemsworth clarifies. In such cases, the charity signposts individuals to relevant addiction support services to help them address their underlying issues.
“There's a check, just to make sure that we're giving the right people the right sort of financial support, but also the right sort of emotional and practical support that go with that as well.”
Fundraising and celebration
GroceryAid's events play a crucial role in both fundraising and industry engagement. The crown jewel of these events is the Barcode Festival, which exemplifies the charity's growth and ambition.
"Barcode is just the most brilliant event,” Hemsworth enthuses. “The reasons why people go to Barcode is maybe slightly different from some of the other events that we run. More and more it's because people want to celebrate as a team, give a bit of reward and recognition as a team.”
Looking ahead, Kieran’s focus is also on scaling up GroceryAid’s events, particularly the Barcode Festival.
“If our vision is to try and help everybody, and we were successful in terms of growing the level of awareness, then I've got to increase the welfare budget to match that,” he notes.
Described as a day of celebration for the grocery industry, Barcode has outgrown its previous venue near The O2, which has a capacity of about 5000, and will be moving to a larger greenfield site at Kenwood House, in Hampstead, London, next year. This move will increase capacity to around 6,000 or 7,000 attendees, with potential for further growth in the future.
The festival serves multiple purposes, and increasingly as an opportunity for brands to showcase themselves in a unique, emotive way.
“In the last Barcode, we had over 1000 retailers there. So, it's a great opportunity to showcase your brand in an emotive way, rather than just talk with a presenter, do it in a proper way whilst everybody has enjoyed themselves as well,” Hemsworth explains.
But Barcode is just one of many events in GroceryAid's calendar. From challenge activities like coast-to-coast cycling and rowing across Lake Windermere to gala events with major retailers, each event serves to bring the industry together while raising crucial funds for the charity's work.
Focus on diversity
GroceryAid's commitment to the industry extends beyond direct support to workers. The charity also facilitates the D&I in Grocery programme, which aims to raise the level of diversity across the sector. With over 100 partners now participating, the program provides a platform for companies to learn from each other and drive positive change.
“It's a fantastic programme where the partners learn from the partners,” Hemsworth says. "Some of them a little bit further forward in terms of their D&I journey, but this gives a great opportunity for people who are not so far forward to be able to learn a huge amount from the other partners within the programme.”
The programme includes Learning Labs, mentor sessions, and a large annual live event, D&I in Grocery LIVE! This year's event, took place in early October, featured retail consultant and broadcaster Mary Portas as the keynote speaker.
For Hemsworth, the Asian retail community plays a vital role in the convenience sector, and he is determined to include their experiences in the D&I conversation. “We’re very pleased to have Asian Trader as one of our partners to ensure that representation,” he notes. “The whole programme is across the totality of the industry, and we need to make sure that we are covering everybody from that perspective.”
A message for Diwali
With Diwali just around the corner, Hemsworth offers a heartfelt message to retailers celebrating the festival of lights: “Have an amazing Diwali, but also remember your workers over this time as well. Please help us to get that message out, of our fantastic welfare services that are available to them.
“Sign up to the website, get the pack downloaded, drive that level of awareness of everybody working in your store, to make sure that they really understand that there is an industry charity here that's available to help them, should they fall into need, whether that is financial, emotional or practical.”
It’s a message that underlines the heart of GroceryAid’s mission - supporting those who keep the grocery industry running, day in and day out. By spreading the word and ensuring that workers know where to turn in times of need, Hemsworth hopes that more people will benefit from the lifeline that GroceryAid provides.
Diwali is a time of giving, a time to reflect on the spirit of kindness and community. What better way to embody that than by ensuring your staff are aware of the support available to them through GroceryAid.
| The application process |
| For those seeking support from GroceryAid, the process is designed to be as straightforward and supportive as possible. CEO Kieran Hemsworth walks us through the steps: “If you're suffering that sort of temporary drop in income, in terms of if somebody in the house is ill and you have to reduce the number of hours that you're working, or there's a relationship breakdown or a housing issue, the best thing to do is to go via our website groceryaid.org.uk.” From there, applicants can find information about available grants and how to apply. The website offers a live chat option and a phone number [08088 021 122] for those who need assistance with their application. The application process is designed to be comprehensive but compassionate, considering the applicant’s financial situation, such as savings and bank statements, to ensure the right support is provided. GroceryAid's caseworkers guide applicants through the process, ensuring they receive the most appropriate support for their situation. “The approach from the welfare officers is often the case that we get people applying for like a cost-of-living grant, which is quite a low-level grant, and when they casework it with the individual, they will find out there's another opportunity to apply for an even bigger grant,” Hemsworth explains. “Also, depending on the issue, they will signpost the other services that we can offer as well, so either the practical support that's required to go with it, or any emotional support that's required to go with it. So, it's a more holistic process in terms of what we offer.” |
Scandal of the century
Post Office Ltd (POL) relied on “evidence” from a fatally-flawed Horizon IT system that made it look as if sub postmasters were stealing money from their businesses. And was inclined to believe whatever the Fujitsu programmers said. POL began to prosecute postmasters from early on this century, shortly after Horizon was adopted.
Later, as more and more previously law-abiding sub postmasters turned, without or planning, to a life of hopeless crime – they were contractually responsible for financial shortfalls in their branches, so stealing was nonsensical – patterns emerged that would throw into question the robustness and integrity of Horizon and Fujitsu. But POL, committed to its shiny new IT project, ignored the protests and carried on, prosecution-happy, even after it had lost more than a dozen cases – losses which it kept very quiet about in future years.
All the prosecutions were brought by POL itself rather than the Crown Prosecution Service, and public and legal scrutiny as a result was very limited. Sub postmasters who found themselves in the dock were each lied to by POL that they were the only ones to have lost money; then bullied and blackmailed into pleading guilty, repaying “stolen” sums, or resigning. Many sub postmasters, assured that a guilty plea or a “repayment” would see the end of the matter, found themselves thrown into prison anyway – people such as Seema Misra, who was even pregnant at the time.
Accused postmasters often found themselves vilified within the communities that had come to trust them, and many were subject to racial abuse. POL debt collectors, working on commission, hounded and doorstepped the accused, who began to experience ill-health, family break-ups and mental breakdowns, even suicides.
The sub postmasters’ union was no help, because it was being financed by POL and was interested only in smoothing the way between itself and its paymaster. It merely whispered what the POL advised: give yourself up, computers don’t lie, just come clean.
At one point a slight nervousness entered POL and it hired two forensic accountants – Ron Warmington and Ian Henderson of Second Sight – to produce a report, which made uncomfortable reading in that it highlighted instances where Horizon had plainly been untrustworthy, implying that prosecutions might be unsafe. There was no Third Sight: Ron and Ed were undermined and then sacked.
POL discomfort (or growing terror) was compounded when Simon Clarke, a barrister working for a law firm retained by the organisation, looked into the matter and discovered that the Fujitsu expert witness – Gareth Jenkins – whose testimony had led to the conviction and imprisonment of dozens of luckless sub postmasters, had lied and obfuscated on many matters under oath in the witness box, rendering every conviction unsafe. This was the notorious “Clarke advice”, which POL promptly made vanish until 2020, when it was finally pried from POL’s grasp.
The prosecutions continued for many years and the conspiracy grew deeper with each sub postmaster’s false conviction.
By now, of course, a very bad but limited mistake of over-reliance on experts and technology starting two decades earlier had metastasized into the greatest legal scandal of the century, with literally hundreds of sub postmasters prosecuted, sacked, bankrupted and ruined.
This was partly for the sake of keeping POL – which had been seeking £1.5 billion in new funding from the government – looking competent and professional. Such a scandal breaking might have proven an existential matter for POL. But lethal blowback is now searing its way through the ranks of the Executive great and good (and to an extent, government) as the Post Office Inquiry goes on, wrecking reputations and placing many – one hopes – in the cold blast of serious legal jeopardy.
Sir Alan Bates, Founder, Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance (Photo Andrew Matthews - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
The mood in the country turned decisively against POL after the drama, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, was broadcast on four consecutive days from 1 January 2024. To have the entire saga laid out in a manner the public could grasp – and become outraged over – seemed almost like a miracle.
But from very early on, one man had been keeping the flame alive and doing the serious footwork of investigating and documenting all that was happening. That was Nick Wallis, an ex-BBC journalist, now a freelancer, whose Post Office Scandal website relentlessly exposed all the POL goings on, all the obfuscation, lies and evasions, the injustices and contradictions, the rumours and scandals. For years, Nick kept plugging away, always modestly, always making it clear that he was supporting the victims, the suffering sub postmasters.
In the end he wrote a book about it, The Great Post Office Scandal – in a sense a book that remains very much unfinished as we approach the culmination of the Inquiry and await the findings of its Chair, Sir Wyn Williams; and then subsequently the deliberations of the police and Crown Prosecution Service, to see whether a measure of justice will finally be meted out to the conspirators.
Asian Trader recently spoke to Nick to get his personal view about all that has gone on, and to gain an understanding of the inner workings of this greatest scandal.
Story of a scandal
“I've been following the story since 2010, watching it develop, reporting on it for various outlets, mainly the BBC,” says Nick and explains that it was only after a Court of Appeal judgment in 2021 that the government finally bowed to public pressure and agreed to make the inquiry statutory, “at which point we all knew that that would mean there was at least a possibility that we would start to hear some answers”.
Nick has been in the Inquiry hall at Aldgate House in London as often as possible, live-tweeting, for a process that has been ongoing now for over a year.
"I think one of the best things that happened to the inquiry,” Nick says, "was starting it with the human impact hearing, where you had a parade of downtrodden but honest people who had an extraordinary integrity, explaining step by step, exactly what the Post Office did to them.
“Just one or two of these stories should outrage anyone, but there were hundreds. I mean, dozens of people gave live oral evidence, and then there were many, many more witness statements that were given to the inquiry. And I think for the entire inquiry – the Secretariat, the team of barristers, the Chair and his facilitators – it focussed them on getting to the truth of what happened, and they have carried that spirit.”
The POL and Fujitsu and legal people who did have something to hide and did have to justify appalling decisions “didn't come across so well because they were essentially found out by the evidence”.
REUTERS/Hollie Adams
I suggest that there were two exposures, one of the Establishment and its complacency and self-interest. And there was the exposure of what we've come to see is “professionalism” and all the ills that it can foster within an organization.
“What the scandal exposed is the absolute dereliction of duty by so many different sectors and professions and industries,” says Nick. “The corporate governance of the Post Office was negligent. The Post Office executive withheld information from the Board. The Board was not giving the correct information to the shareholder executive or the government department. The shareholder executive wasn't analysing the data that they were getting or asking the relevant questions. They were, in turn, misinforming the ministers, who again, knew they were sitting on a huge problem at times, but failed to apply themselves properly to investigate. And on top of that were the consistent failures of the legal profession to do their duty with regard to the courts and justice, rather than their own naked self-interest.”
Put like that, it seems pretty damning.
Not Rumpole of the Bailey
The legal profession – with honourable exceptions, such as Lord Arbuthnot and the excellent team of backs and lawyers who have conducted the questioning at the Inquiry – have not been morally impressive.
“The Post Office lawyers appear to have been characterized largely by – I would say incompetence just about shades out malice. And utter indifference, or in fact scorn for the sub postmasters, who were the lifeblood of their organization,” says Nick. “A lot of the litigators acting for the Post Office’s external organizations were particularly gruesome, and the barristers that they employed.”
At one point the POL on advice of its legal team, tried to get a judge who had found against them in an earlier hearing, the excellent and technically knowledgeable Mr Justice Fraser, sacked (“recused”) so that he could no longer adjudicate on the actions regarding the sub postmasters. This backfired very badly on POL.
“It’s a perfect example of lawyers who can come in, get paid an awful lot of money to throw their weight and opinions around, with in most circumstances absolutely no skin in the game. They got caught out because this was such a big scandal. It is the class of person, at the very highest levels of the legal profession and the establishment, who could not give a monkey’s about the truth of what was happening. And we saw this with plenty of the other lawyers,” Nick concludes with justifiable contempt.
(Photo by TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images)
I say that, in all this time, nobody at POL wondered about why an entire class of person – sub postmasters – would decide to become criminal, all in the same way, and all with so little chance of profiting from it.
“It's purely cultural,” he answers. “The development of the Post Office and the admission of sub postmasters into the ranks of the Post Office was predicated with a class loathing, which resented their existence from the very start and saw them all as potential risks to the business, potential thieves. When discrepancies were supposedly highlighted by the Horizon IT system, they took the assurances from Fujitsu that there was nothing wrong it and were able to reinforce their prejudices against sub postmasters, by assuming their guilt. It’s culture, and culture trumps everything; culture even trumps the law.
“If you have bad culture in the legal profession, or in the corporate governance environment, or in a political, or governmental environment, that will manifest itself in injustice.”
Very many sub postmasters (and of course sub postmistresses) are of South Asian origin, and I ask Nick whether he believes racism and prejudice played a part in the prosecutions. I quote a witness testimony from a Fujitsu call-centre employee, where distressed sub postmasters would call when they saw something wrong in their accounts.
The testimony recalled how a cry would go up: “We’ve got another Patel!” – to indicate another “crook” had surfaced. There were classifications for “Negroid” in the Post Office HR bureaucracy. What was going on there?
“I had a theory that the Post Office was indiscriminate in who it prosecuted,” replies Nick. “I think the racial classification codes were shocking and appalling. The fact that the Post Office had not updated them from when they were grandfathered into the organization, from the same racist Metropolitan Police identification codes from the late 1970s, speaks volumes about their incompetence.”
Former sub-postmistress Seema Misra (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images)
And the ex-coppers they employed to go after the sub postmasters.
“What I do think is particularly interesting, is when those non-white sub postmasters enter the criminal justice system. You've got a cohort of people who've never committed any crimes, because you can't become a sub postmaster if you haven't got a spotless record. Then, when you compare their sentences and the way they were treated by the criminal courts with those of their white counterparts, they seem to get massively disproportionate sentences for their first offense.”
So, it’s in the system rather than personal?
"A white sub postmaster might escape jail,” explains Nick. “A non-white sub postmaster gets a custodial sentence. A white sub postmaster gets a custodial sentence. A non-white one gets a much harsher and longer one. There is now a very interesting cohort of people to be studied because they don't have any previous offending, and therefore you can conceivably compare like-with-like.
Nick has been trying for some time now to get the data out of POL and then the government and has been working with Professor Richard Moorhead at the University of Essex to try to extract that data, but he says, “It’s been like pulling teeth. It's been glacial.”
Birth of a crime
When, I ask, does Nick believe the prosecutions tip over from being a screw-up to being an actual criminal conspiracy?
“Second Sight went in, and after a year, produced an interim report which suggested that there were two known faults with Horizon. One of the external prosecuting barristers saw this report, and within days wrote what became known as the first Clarke advice.
“That was an explosive document, it was an unexploded bomb that had just been handed to the Post Office. Its most senior lawyer read it and did not pass it on to the chief executive or the Post Office Board.
“What we still do not know is how much of the contents of that advice was communicated to the Post Office chief executive and the Post Office Board. But the Post Office CEO, Paula Vennels, wondered whether they should do a proper investigation of all their prosecutions, and she was shut down by their Head of Communications, Mark Davies, who said no, it would create a massive story, and isn't worth it.”
That meant a chain of events was set in motion which “essentially led to them being patted on the back by the various people they were paying to pat them on the back and tell them that that they didn't have a problem.”
Nick says, “That was the point when this went from appalling, terrible, inept, malicious, indifferent cock-up to a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.”
What next?
Phase Seven of the PO Inquiry his now in session – that's the That's the recommendations and reflections section that will eventually recommend future changes in POL (and hopefully more widely) to ensure nothing like this ever happens again.
But what about punishment for the wrongdoers, now we can pretty much see what happened and who did what in POL and Fujitsu and in various law firms.? Nick lays out how this world of government and big organisations works. Why did the endless ministers responsible apparently never do very much to find out what was going on?
“Information was reaching ministers through non-official means, and they were doing what they could against a machine that was determined to repel any kind of substantive exercise in raising the bonnet or lifting up the rock, and so consistently failed to uncover the problem. There was a vested interest in keeping the problem covered up.”
The system again.
Former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells arrives to testify at the Post Office inquiry on May 22, 2024 in London, England. Paula Vennells worked as the Post Office chief executive during the key Horizon operating years from 2012 - 2019. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
“Too many people had too much to lose by saying, Okay, let's, let's do a root and branch investigation into what has gone wrong here. They knew that if they kept digging, what they found could be existential for the government and the Post Office. But when it comes to miscarriages of justice, that's the point at which you should say, I don't care if this loses me my job. I don't care if the whole cabinet has to resign. I don't care if my career prospects are blighted going forward and forever stained by a crisis that will have my name attached to it simply because I did something about it.”
Is it also that beyond this point that if I don't say something, I enter the realm of legal liability? I ask.
“I've long said that it's all very well having a carrot for whistleblowers, and to say that they’ll be protected – which, at the moment they're not – but you also need to have a whacking big stick whereby, if a senior person sees, suspects or comes across a document which even suggests something might have gone seriously wrong, that if they don't do their utmost to investigate it and alert whoever they need to alert, then there's a good chance they might go to jail. And that just simply doesn't exist in this country.”
Do you think that in the police investigation, they're going to do the FBI thing, where they'll try and tip somebody low down and then somebody higher, somebody higher, until they get somebody important
“We were all rather hoping the inquiry would turn into a circular firing squad, but it hasn't. There's no jeopardy for them, apart from maybe a bit of mild criticism or even strong criticism from Sir Wyn Williams when he finally reports.
“They can ride out whatever happens in the public arena as they're giving evidence – it's yesterday's chip paper. But if the Jeopardy is that they may well end up with a criminal conviction or jail time, it is entirely possible that some of the people who have not been as fulsome with their answers as they could have been in the inquiry, will start pointing the finger of blame at people who were directly responsible, and the police may be able to put together a case to charge those individuals higher up the chain.”
Nick’s book is available on Amazon and on his website, and it’s a brilliant, definitive read. What is the next project?
“I'm in talks to write a new book about the Gender Wars,” he says, “which is not such a departure as it sounds because it is all tied up in legal procedurals.”
“You're very brave man,” I say, with genuine admiration.
“Well, I like a scrap, and I would like to say there's no way that I will abandon this story. It's going to be part of my career for as long as the story has legs, and it's certainly got a long way left to run.”
Jamie Davison: Eyes on the prize
The biggest buzz right now is around their innovative approach of “store within a store”, also known as dual store or hybrid store concept. Introducing back-to-back permutations and combinations of its different symbol groups (Costcutter, Best-One, Bargain Booze, Wine Rack, Select Convenience and Central Convenience) in a new dual store format, Bestway Retail is definitely on to something fresh and intriguing.
Asian Trader got in touch with Bestway Retail Director Jamie Davison, who is said to be the driving force behind Bestway’s recent redefinition of convenience stores.
Davison explained, “Our dual supply hybrid store concept focuses on the different customer demographics and having the right offer and proposition that meets the needs of local customers in that catchment area.
“We believe that our new concept stores define the future of convenience. This innovative and pioneering concept brings together the strength of the Costcutter or Best-one’ convenience offer with the leading beers, wines, and spirits lines available from Bargain Booze or Wine Rack to make a fantastic proposition for both retailers and consumers alike.
“We are proud of our hybrid concept that allows retailers to not only compete, but to thrive and take on all competitors within the convenience market with confidence.”
Daring Duals
Introduced by former Bestway retail director Mike Hollis in early 2022, the inspiration behind this model stems from the thought that no two stores are completely alike.
The first Costcutter-Bargain Booze hybrid store was adopted by Costcutter retailer Peter Patel at his Meopham store in Kent, showcasing a 420 sq ft Bargain Booze section inside his 1,900 sq ft store. The store reported a spike of “166 per cent” in alcohol sales after the refit and rebranding.
Another such dual-branded store in Bolton has also been seeing encouraging numbers since it adopted Costcutter-Bargain Booze model. With two prominent brands displayed outside the store, retailer Kersheaup Vagadia’s store has been seeing a “significant increase” both in footfall and in average basket spend.
What makes this hybrid model so compelling? In an era where personalisation is key, Bestway’s hybrid stores seem to hit the nail with their adaptability and flexibility.
The “marriage of the two brands” means the hybrid stores have an exciting and market leading alcohol offer to complement the leading grocery proposition, Davison said, adding that some dual stores have been boosting store sales by a whopping “220 per cent”.
Under the umbrella of “store within a store” model, Bestway Retail has so far introduced Costcutter-Bargain Booze proposition and Costcutter-Wine Rack model.
Wine Rack hybrid is for a “more premium demographic with its range of wines and Champagnes” while Bargain Booze one targets the “mass market looking for value offerings”, Davison explained.
The first Costcutter Wine Rack hybrid store opened in Guildford in late 2023, a concept that is set to be rolled out wider across the Southwest.
Calling them “a key part of Bestway Retail’s winning formula”, Davison stated that the hybrid stores provide shoppers with “wide fresh and chilled offering, Own Label (Coop, Best-in), wide range of branded groceries, a full suite of Food-to-Go options, exceptional usage of locally sourced Direct to Store Supply Partnerships (over 300), specialist BWS offer,£5 million investment in marketing packages and significant investment in social media channels”.
Davison continued, “Our dual supply hybrid stores were executed by drawing off the extensive knowledge and expertise of colleagues and departments across Bestway businesses, working collaboratively with partners to ensure the store-within-a-store concept delivered the right proposition for the store demographic.”
Bestway Retail has so far completed 10 of the dual-branded conversions. The wholesale giant said it was planning to expand the concept and supply into areas of the UK within which Bargain Booze had not historically operated.
Meanwhile, Davison stated that Bestway Retail is aiming to have “100 such hybrid cum dual stores by the end of 2024”.Bestway Retail’s plans don’t stop there. The group has also struck a long-term partnership with SimplyFresh, allowing SimplyFresh retailers to open dual-fascia stores with Bargain Booze and Wine Rack brands.
With almost 30 years of experience in retail, Davison is clearly a veteran and a seasoned retail expert who knows the business inside out- definitely a perfect person to lead a bold initiative like this.
Starting his career with his own store, Davison joined Costcutter in 1999 where he quickly climbed the ranks to become Business Development Director of New Business. He came to Bestway along with Costcutter acquisition, joining as Business Development Director, a position he has held since 2021.
In current role of Retail Director which he took last year, Davison has overall accountability for the new business and store development teams along with overall responsibility for the support and development of the Best-one, Costcutter, Bargain Booze, Wine Rack brands, along with relationships held with symbol retailers.
Davison told Asian Trader, “My role is focused on engaging with our customers and ensuring my team are supporting and driving our customers plans to grow’. I am ensuring that we continue to develop our retailer engagement and the propositions and services that we offer.”
For a company supporting over 3,000 retail outlets under its core brands, such a commitment to growth is certainly no small task.
Meanwhile, Bestway Retail’s renewed focus on its symbol retailers, driven by Davison, is now starting to show results. The numbers are speaking for themselves.
Davison said, “Average weekly purchasing figures from new hybrid group of stores is nearly double the average of a non-hybrid Costcutter, Bargain Booze or Wine Rack retailer. Rebate being paid back to a hybrid retailer by Bestway is +40 per cent vs the average paid to non-hybrid Costcutter which demonstrates loyalty.”
The other encouraging figures reported at dual stores are “3 per cent margin growth as well as margin rate improvement, 40 per cent improvement in footfall, 48 per cent increase in weekly sales and +11.7 per cent average basket spend”, Davison informed.
Bestway’s focus isn’t limited to its hybrid stores. The company has also undertaken a major facelift for its Best-One brand, refreshing the way these stores are presented, ensuring a vibrant and modern look and feel is carried out both internally and externally.
Davison said, “The main focus of this modernisation was to overhaul, focus on key promotions for low demographic areas and the introduction of an up weighted own label presence.”
The pilot of revamped Best-one, that opened near Bristol, boasts of “refreshed 3D-halo, back lit fascia and new vinyl’s that reflect what the store is selling”. The refreshed Best One model also has “stronger value message, promotion gondola, twice dump bins, floor stacks and dedicated own label range in “Best-in bay”.
“Customers love what we have done, and they are supporting us with their pounds,” Davison said.
Buzz has it that there is another hybrid model brewing, which could see a Bargain Booze store sited within a Best-one, or vice-versa, depending on whether the store in question is grocery or alcohol-driven. The concept would likely replace the current Select Convenience format.
Retailer relations
To strengthen its relationship with retailers, Bestway has been developing retailer engagement programmes for its 3000 retailer outlets.
Davison told Asian Trader, “Relationships are at the heart of all we do, and we want to continue to support that. We have introduced our retailer forums across all our brands; we are holding retailer regional meetings.”
Bestway’s retailer showcase held in May was the “biggest and the most successful” the group has seen to date, with the attendance of more than 500 retailers.
He pointed out, “We also make sure to engage with suppliers and develop partnerships and networking opportunities for our colleagues. Throughout the year we plug in opportunities for social events as well to strengthen the relationship building with retailers and suppliers. Every end of the year we come together in November to celebrate our colleagues, our retailers and our valued supplier partners as well at our Bestway Awards.”
Davison also credited the field teams, highlighting their role in constantly supporting retailers.
He said, “Our field team helps retailers understand their key catchment area, the trade zone that they operate in, to be able to compete in their specific location and bring the relevant ranges, fulfill the missions of the various shopper personas and bring their shopper a key value offer and maximize the opportunities out there.”
While Bestway is undoubtedly focused on growth, it hasn’t lost sight of the challenges facing the convenience sector.
Davison informed, “We have developed a very strong own label proposition to bring value to shoppers impacted by the cost-of-living crisis. Having three principles in mind – margin, value and quality – the range features almost 200 lines.”
Retail crime is another pressing issue.
He said, “We are working closely with our retailers and use our forums to ensure we listed to the issues and provide support with solutions. With Dawood Pervez (managing director at Bestway Wholesale) being a chairman of FWD, we also seek support from the rest of the industry as well where applicable.”
As the retail landscape continues to shift, Bestway Retail is also preparing for the impact of new legislative restrictions, such as the disposable vape ban and possible Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) regulations.
He said, “We acknowledge the importance of all these policies and respect them and are working with our customers to transition and mitigate any risks. For example, when it comes to the HFSS regulations, we have been developing our Good Food project for over two years now, with the objective to bring healthier options to our customers.”
Future is here
Davison’s extensive experience in convenience retail, combined with his deep understanding of the industry, gives him a unique perspective. His advice to independent retailers is simple yet profound that “one size or model does not fit all” and it is important to get to know the customers and adapt the propositions to tailor serving specific needs.
Looking ahead, Davison seems laser-focused to further develop dual-branded stores, ensuring “there's a perfect fit for everyone”.
He told Asian Trader, “Our focus is on creating dynamic, modern, and customer-centric spaces that cater to evolving shopper missions.
“We will tailor solutions to the unique needs of our retailers and optimise our Shopper First program to target key audience demographics to help pinpoint the right offers. Whether a bustling city centre outlet, community store or a cosy neighbourhood shop, we've got it covered.”
In many ways, Bestway Retail’s hybrid store model encapsulates the group’s as well as Davison’s philosophy- flexibility, agility, adaptability, personalisation and local relevance. As the retail landscape continues to evolve, it’s clear that Bestway is not just keeping pace but is ahead of the curve. The future, it seems, is already here.
