Peter Saunders, general manager, Booker, Northampton
Peter Saunders has been in the business 35 years starting in grocery retail straight from school, and became part of the Booker empire when he was working for Budgens and it was taken over by the cash and carry giant.
He was working in management with Budgens when, in 1991, he was offered the opportunity to introduce some retail focus to the cash and carry business as general manager of Booker’s Chichester depot in West Sussex.
After a year, he was asked to launch a new depot in Brighton, and after a further two years came the challenge to open a new flagship depot near Booker’s HQ in Northampton.
Saunders grew the business into the highest grossing depot in the group - not bad going with just 37,000 sq ft - and although it has since
been overtaken in total sales, he says it still claims the highest sales per square foot.
One of the secrets of running a successful cash and carry, he says, is making sure customers feel welcome.
“Retailers are in their store long hours every day, and for many of them the visit to the depot is a release.”
Saunders and his team get to know their customers and all about their businesses, and retailers know that they can always pop into Saunders’ office to discuss an issue or just to have a chat. “We have 3,500 active customers and we know many of them by their first names,” he says.
Purchasing patterns are tracked and if sales fall, customers can expect a friendly call to check everything is alright.
When the depot opened, it was purely a cash and carry, but over the years it has developed a business delivering to Premier members, other retailers and even some caterers, and that now accounts for about 20% of turnover.
Saunders is in charge of a 77-strong team with 24 operating overnight to ensure the depot is fully stocked every morning.
One of his priorities every week is to cascade information down from head office through his management team to the shopfloor so every member of the team is kept up to date on how the business is faring.
Peter Saunders has been in the business 35 years starting in grocery retail straight from school, and became part of the Booker empire when he was working for Budgens and it was taken over by the cash and carry giant.
He was working in management with Budgens when, in 1991, he was offered the opportunity to introduce some retail focus to the cash and carry business as general manager of Booker’s Chichester depot in West Sussex.
After a year, he was asked to launch a new depot in Brighton, and after a further two years came the challenge to open a new flagship depot near Booker’s HQ in Northampton.
Saunders grew the business into the highest grossing depot in the group - not bad going with just 37,000 sq ft - and although it has since
been overtaken in total sales, he says it still claims the highest sales per square foot.
One of the secrets of running a successful cash and carry, he says, is making sure customers feel welcome.
“Retailers are in their store long hours every day, and for many of them the visit to the depot is a release.”
Saunders and his team get to know their customers and all about their businesses, and retailers know that they can always pop into Saunders’ office to discuss an issue or just to have a chat. “We have 3,500 active customers and we know many of them by their first names,” he says.
Purchasing patterns are tracked and if sales fall, customers can expect a friendly call to check everything is alright.
When the depot opened, it was purely a cash and carry, but over the years it has developed a business delivering to Premier members, other retailers and even some caterers, and that now accounts for about 20% of turnover.
Saunders is in charge of a 77-strong team with 24 operating overnight to ensure the depot is fully stocked every morning.
One of his priorities every week is to cascade information down from head office through his management team to the shopfloor so every member of the team is kept up to date on how the business is faring.
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