How Spar is creating a ‘functional family’

To truly understand Spar, you have to understand the story behind the name. Originally called De Spar, the business was founded in 1932 by Dutch wholesaler Adriaan van Well. The name was an acronym for Door Eendrachtig Samenwerken Profiteren Allen Regelmatig – which translates as “everyone benefits from joint collaboration”.

It captured a simple principle: independent wholesalers and retailers could achieve far more by working together than by going it alone.

Today, the philosophy still resonates with Michael Fletcher, who joined Spar UK as managing director in November 2024. “It’s been a fascinating year,” he says. “I did a lot of due diligence before I joined, but it’s only when you get into a business that you really understand what makes it tick.”

The structure alone makes Spar UK a somewhat unique business. The symbol group spans four independently owned regional distribution centres (RDCs): AF Blakemore, Henderson Group, CJ Lang, James Hall. The fifth RDC - Appleby Westward Group (AWG) - is owned by Spar Group in South Africa.

Fletcher’s job is to “create synergy” between all parties, he says. “The great thing about Spar is you’ve got five different businesses in the room representing five different sets of customers. It’s more complicated, but in theory you get a better output, because it feels more relevant to the community.”

It’s a new challenge for Fletcher, whose long retail career spans more than two decades at Tesco in commercial roles, nearly 10 years as COO at Co-op and a brief stint as CEO of Nisa. But one experience really stands out for him: running a Tesco Extra store in Hindley, Greater Manchester, in 2007 and 2008.

“I learnt so much there, and I understand how tough it is to work in a shop,” he says. “If I take anything from that, it’s this: if you’re working in a central or regional function, your job is to get it right first time, on time, every time, because there’s a group of people in that store relying on you.”

That experience and dedication could prove to be vital as Spar UK faces an increasingly tough climate. Turnover at the central office fell 7% – from £67.6m to £62.8m – in the year ended 30 April 2025. Operating profit also declined as Spar UK flagged “persistent cost-of-living pressures” as a concern.

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The pressures are evident in Spar Group’s struggle to sell AWG. In December, the South African parent admitted the process to sell the business – based in the south west of England – had been “slower than we’d like” following a “really tough year”.

Still, Fletcher remains upbeat – especially as Spar has grown its retailer numbers from 2,199 to 2,261 in the past year. “Success for me is more retailers joining Spar and existing retailers growing their businesses,” he says. “Rising store numbers, strong like-for-like performance and high retailer commitment to the Spar family show the model is delivering.”

A local approach

Fletcher also has confidence in Spar’s core proposition: a national retailer with local focus. “If you want a homogeneous offer, Spar is not the right model for you,” he stresses. “Spar’s strength is not uniformity, it’s relevance delivered at scale and empowering the expertise in a community.”

Put simply, Spar UK sets the strategy, frameworks and insight, while “the RDCs and Spar retailers bring it to life locally”, Fletcher says. The head office develops Spar own label, manages relationships with suppliers, supports national distribution and invests in datasets.

The RDCs, however, still have the flexibility to deliver a local proposition that’s “as close as possible to the customer”, Fletcher adds. That means they can leverage the buying power, strategic insight and promotional planning of a national operation, while maintaining an independent edge.

“If you think of a traditional retailer, it’s creating the insight and making a recommendation on proposition,” says Fletcher. “What you get in Spar is nuances by region because of the independent dynamic. That’s what makes it powerful, because it’s very tailored.”

That tailored approach is also reflected in supplier relationships. While Spar UK puts in place national agreements, the RDCs work directly with suppliers on elements such as ranging decisions and local promotional plans.

“That combination is one of Spar’s biggest strengths,” says Fletcher. “National scale where it helps, local flexibility where it matters. And from a supplier perspective, it allows brands to reach over 2,200 stores through a single strategic framework.”

The flexibility can also come in handy around promotional events. “Take the World Cup. It’s the first time Scotland has qualified for a long time, so CJ Lang and its independent retailers may want to execute it slightly differently, because it’s going to be so much more important.”

Such independence can come with challenges. First, opinions don’t always align. “It’s natural that RDCs will sometimes prioritise different things or take different approaches,” says Fletcher. Still, he’s keen to avoid being dictatorial. “In those moments, Spar UK’s role is to bring clarity and evidence. We share the data, outline options and help RDCs understand the value, trade-offs and practical implications of different approaches. Ultimately, they make their own decisions – but it’s our job to support them to make the right ones.”

“It’s a functional family,” he adds. “We have our moments, but it is an iterative process.”

Second, store quality can vary given the different investment opportunities. But this isn’t unique to Spar, Fletcher stresses. “It would be brilliant if every store went through a major refit every five or six years, but the reality is that doesn’t happen. There are certain standards you can’t slip below – and we enforce those – but it’s not really a Spar challenge, it’s a retail challenge.”

Fletcher compares Spar to a car with “five engines”, whereas most retail businesses have one. “And when all five engines are firing, try and hold us back”.

For him, success is ultimately measured by the impact of Spar’s model on customers. “My role is about identifying what we can do better together – whether that’s driven centrally or shared across RDCs – to deliver a better outcome for customers,” he says.

That collaborative spirit is embedded in Spar’s Guild network, which gives retailers a voice and allows them to share best practice quickly. Every Spar retailer belongs to a regional guild linked to its RDC, feeding into a National Guild Board that meets five times a year.

“The great thing about Spar is that willingness to share,” says Fletcher.

“Solutions spread faster in Spar than in the vast majority of convenience retailers in the UK, and it’s that speed of reaction that helps you win. The big don’t always beat the small, but the quick always beat the slow – and that’s us.”