BWG's UK shopping basket is overflowing

WITH WHOLESALE grocery group BWG having gone unlimited here some time ago, we can’t tell how the business is performing in Ireland, although, along with its competitors, it must be finding the going extremely tough in the recession.

But the picture in Britain appears to be altogether different judging by the latest set of accounts filed by its Appleby Westward subsidiary, which supplies Spar and Eurospar stores in the south of England.

These show that turnover rose by 6.3 per cent to £136 million (€154.7 million) in 2009 while its operating profit doubled to £2.9 million. The after-tax surplus was an even better £7 million, thanks to the benefit of a tax credit from previous years of £4 million.

The results and its trading prospects are described as “satisfactory” in the directors’ report attached to the results.

That seems to be something of an understatement by the directors – who include BWG’s main shareholders, Irishmen Leo Crawford and John Clohisey – given the economic backdrop last year.

The accounts say the rise in sales was due to Appleby Westward’s strategy of “recruiting better” independent stores to its chain of Spar shops and “continuing to develop their stores’ retail standards”.

In terms of its trading performance so far this year, BWG’s finance chief John O’Donnell told me: “There’s more of a potential slowdown in the UK this year given the issues they have to address. But we continue to trade well in our segment. We’re happy with that.”