NI’s wholesaler posts record turnover

Northern Ireland’s wholesaler and retailer Henderson Group has posted a record turnover of £1.23 billion for 2022 – a rise of 15.6 per cent on 2021.

The group’s chief financial officer, Ron Whitten says the results are down to a strong and improving mix within the business, continued investment and controlled operating costs.

Operating from Mallusk-based headquarters, family-owned Henderson Group is the owner of SPAR, EUROSPAR, ViVO, ViVOXtra & ViVO Essentials franchises in Northern Ireland. It provides support for independent retailers who trade under one of the Henderson Group brands.

“In 2022, we made a strategic capital investment of £33million across new and existing retail and wholesale locations, opening a further nine independent and company owned stores. Our Foodservice company has recovered the momentum lost during the Covid-19 outbreak which particularly affected the hospitality sector and delivered a sales increase of 41.4 per cent in Northern Ireland last year,” Yahoo UK quoted Whitten as saying.

Henderson Foodservice repositioned post-Covid with an updated digital platform and now processes 40 per cent of its sales online.

“We are pleased with the group’s performance for 2022, achieved against a challenging backdrop. We have increased our workforce to over 5,000, continuing to invest in our teams’ development as it is the backbone of our business. Despite the challenging economic climate, the uptake rate of Payroll Giving was 19.5 per cent across the Group by December 2022.”

In total, throughout the year, Henderson Group staff and retail stores raised over £1 million for their charity partners- Action Mental Health, Marie Curie NI and Cancer Fund for Children, plus additional organisations including Tearfund, NI Children’s Hospice and the Red Cross Ukraine Appeal. By the end of 2022, there were 265 automated external defibrillators in place outside Spar, Eurospar and Vivo branded stores across Northern Ireland.

Paddy Doody, sales and marketing director at Henderson Group, added, “It is important for us to channel our profits back into our business to create competitive opportunities for our retailers, support our local fresh foods suppliers and bring value to the shelves for our shoppers.

“The year wasn’t without its challenges, including the highest rate of food inflation we’ve seen in many years in December, however our commitment to investment and local sourcing put us in good stead and bringing value to our shoppers is always our top priority throughout our brands.”

The group pledged a £60 million investment programme back into the business for 2023 to provide even more capital expenditure in their retail and wholesale infrastructure and technologies, sustainable strategies and to further enhance the value promise to shoppers at a time when they need it the most.