McColl’s struggling to survive, says report

Convenience store chain McColl’s Retail Group is struggling to survive and is gearing up to find a buyer, stated a report on Sunday (27).

As per a report in Sky News, the group have called in advisers to help find a bidder, and are exploring third party options, who may be willing to invest further capital.

The news comes six months after the group raised £30 million from shareholders in a cash call just six months ago. The group announced in November that it would expand the number of Morrisons Daily conversions from 350 to 450 within a year.

McColl’s trades from approximately 1,100 convenience stores and newsagents across Britain, with about 200 of them now trading under the Morrisons Daily format through a partnership with the supermarket giant.

The report also revealed that EG Group, the petrol stations giant controlled by Mohsin and Zuber Issa and the private equity firm TDR Capital, is said to have held discussions about making an offer for McColl’s but decided against doing so earlier this week.

Jonathan Miller, McColl’s chief executive, said in December that the financial year had “undoubtedly been a tough year for the business, starting with the impact of COVID-19 restrictions and ending with the widely reported and ongoing supply chain challenges”.

“Although we have been able to partly mitigate these external factors, they have still had a significant impact on underlying trading,” he added.

As per the report, Miller had invested £3m personally in the fundraising last summer in an attempt to convince other shareholders to support the company.