Three years ago Scottish independent David Sands put the family's store acquisition programme on hold and ploughed the resultant funds into rebuilding IT infrastructure. Almost £400,000 later, Sands' state-of-the-art voice-based VIOTEQ stock control system is the envy of the close-knit Scottish convenience sector ­ and fellow Scottish wholesaler and retailer Aberness is preparing to install one too. The high-tech system gives the 12 pickers at Sands' central depot spoken instructions through headphones as they collect orders for the chain of 14 stores, with all shelves and products coded with individual reference numbers. Under the new system each store gets six "just in time" deliveries a week, up from two or three, with a 12-hour lead time, creating the right conditions for a new emphasis on fresh foods. Managing director David Sands, the sixth generation to be involved in the family business, says the improvements have given a momentous boost to the accuracy and efficiency of stock control. "Since the system went live a year ago out of stocks have reduced dramatically," he says. "It means that stock holding in store is kept to a minimum, as deliveries can go straight to shelf. It also means that we can negotiate better terms with suppliers as we buy in bulk and store stock at the depot." Sands' main supplier is Nisa - the company has been one of its retail members since 1984 - but a number of other Scottish suppliers deliver direct to the firm's 20,000sq ft warehouse, allowing it to cherrypick any special offers. The only drawback of the relationship is that Nisa has to pass stock through its Scunthorpe depot before sending it out to Sands' warehouse. That can mean an extra £300 each way on the price tag of a lorry load of Scottish produce, but by placing bulk orders Sands still reaps cost benefits. And with the IT restructure in the bag, David Sands is on the acquisition trail, advertising for new stores in the local press. A couple of potential targets have already been lined up in the central Scottish belt where the chain operates from its Milnathort headquarters, and the family plans to bring its portfolio up from 14 to 20 through new acquisitions. But Sands is quick to point out the company has never been in the numbers game. He says: "What is important is profitability not numbers." Indeed when David Sands joined the company in 1989, after a year as a Sainsbury graduate trainee, the family only had one store, in Kinross. It had, over the generations, sold anything from sheepdip to gunpowder tea, and pioneered retail innovations of the day including a store car park, late opening and seven-day trading. But with David on board, the family business began its biggest ever expansion programme, acquiring its second outlet in Methilhill that year. During this push in the 1990s, David's father Lindsay stepped up to became chairman, and David took over as md. David was also making his mark on Scottish grocery society, becoming the youngest ever president of the Scottish Grocers' Federation in 1996, aged only 26. He remembers finding the news that the 15-strong executive had voted for him to take on a two-year term as president as "quite daunting". During his time in office he was a frequent visitor to the US, picking up new ideas from the American convenience sector. As a result he pushed the major Scottish banks to introduce cashpoint machines in Scotland, which resulted in the Bank of Scotland piloting ATMs at convenience chain Morning, Noon & Night. He says: "ATMs became a focus of my presidency. They were already commonplace in the convenience stores I visited in the US, and hot food to go was big in Ireland. As president I could act on all the ideas I picked up, driving them through the Scottish Grocers' Federation." Ten of Sands' own 14 stores across central Scotland now have ATMs, 11 have the Lottery and all carry news and magazines ­ times have moved on and services like these are staple ingredients of the convenience industry. Three stores, including Kinross, have post offices. But Sands says he is not seeking out further post offices because of the uncertainty over their future and the bureaucracy involved in running a concession. All Sands' stores are open from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week. They aim to cater for top-up visits and family shops as well as convenience. In some more remote areas the David Sands store is the only nearby supermarket. In others, like Kinross, the competition, in this case Safeway and Key Lekkerland, is on the doorstep. The stores are based in rural areas and housing estates, and there are no city centre sites yet, but Sands is not ruling out cities for future acquisitions. He says: "If there is one single secret of success it is finding a location with the right potential ­ the store should be at the heart of the community." A successful store needs to be a one-stop-shop, but the price must be right too. To address this, all stores run Nisa promotions every three weeks ­ offering cut prices and buy one get one frees across all categories. On top of that Sands has its own promotional strategy. Leaflets, similar to Nisa's or Safeway's WOW promotions, are issued once a fortnight, offering cut price deals across the complete grocery, fresh and non-food range. And with the competition constantly at his heels, Sands is also working on new store formats, with the emphasis on fresh foods; last year fresh took up 25% of space in stores, this year it is going up to 30%. And attention to detail remains Sands biggest priority. He says: "I worked at Sainsbury Savacentre during the holidays while taking Business Studies at Edinburgh University. I then joined Sainsbury's graduate trainee scheme in London for a year. That gave me a perspective on what strong businesses the major multiples have. I was struck by how important attention to detail is. I don't go along with people who say Asda, Tesco and Safeway are too big to care about details." His experience of the multiples has taught Sands many useful lessons, and he says other convenience operators also have plenty to teach. Cross-fertilisation is pretty standard business practice for convenience operations in Scotland, and David Sands' management make frequent fact-finding appearances at c-stores owned by Budgens, Jacksons, Musgraves and Aberness. Sands says: "One of the great things about our industry is that most people are very receptive to new ideas. Scotland is a very small marketplace and we all talk to each other and there is a lot of friendly rivalry. We are also happy to let people see what we do." Fresh foods and distribution director Stephen Brown, the first non-family director of the company elaborates: "If we hear someone testing a new initiative we can jump in the car and be there in an hour to have a look." The introduction of a non-family director to the business is a sign of the equally progressive approach to staffing and personnel issues in the business. At the moment, the chain employs 325 staff, two thirds of them part-time, including students. With staff turnover typical of the convenience industry at 44% a year, the company has started to monitor the reasons for staff departures, and to step up staff training. There is a dedicated staff training centre at the Kinross store, where a full time trainer puts staff through their paces on anything from food safety to product awareness. Employees are also sent on outside courses covering specific issues. Sands says: "We are investing in training and we are keen to develop people from within the company to become the managers of the future, working their way through the ranks." {{FEATURES }}