The UK’s biggest independent grocery retailers had a tough 2013, choosing to take stock of their operations in the face of fierce competition from the multiples and the discounters, The Grocer’s annual Top 50 has revealed.
Pre-tax profits among the 42 companies where figures were available rose 2% to £221m last year, with turnover flat at £8.8bn. As a result, profit margins crept up from 2.48% to 2.53%.
Store numbers rose 6% to 4,378 stores - largely due to the eight discounters on the list increasing store portfolios - while the number of employees rose 3% to 77,311.
Six retailers exited the Top 50 this year, including Costcutter operator Sunstar Group, and Budgens retailers James Graven and Thornton’s Budgens, after they all sold stores following strategic reviews, leaving their turnover too small for them to figure in the latest rankings.
Strategic reviews also saw sales and profits fall at companies including Spar retailer Alfred Jones and leading forecourt operators MRH GB and Park Garage Group.
In turn, among the six new entrants were Northern Irish off-licence chain Curley’s and supermarket chain Proudfoot Group, which both returned to the list after previously selling off stores.
Although discounter Wilkinson topped the rankings for the fifth year in a row, the best-performing retailer was rival TJ Morris, which trades as Home Bargains.
It chalked up a profit of £110.1m - 50% of the total profit of all the companies on the Top 50. It also recorded a sales increase of 16%, and the biggest profit margin at 10.5%.
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