McColl's store interior

Nisa was the most likely option to supply McColl’s

McColl’s has turned to Nisa to shore up its supply in the wake of Palmer & Harvey’s collapse last week.

Although the convenience operator, which owns about 1,300 stores, has agreed to an exclusive supply agreement with Morrisons, the deal does not kick in until January. The stores that were supplied by P&H up until this week were not due to switch over to Morrisons until the middle of next year.

Ironically, it is the larger McColl’s convenience stores that Nisa currently services that will move to Morrisons first, with the switchover officially kicking off on a rolling basis from 8 January. However, McColl’s has now returned to Nisa in its hour of need. signing a new short-term supply deal that starts today.

The Grocer understands that after P&H went into administration last Tuesday; McColl’s was left with six or seven weeks’ worth of ambient stock and two weeks’ of tobacco supplies.

Nisa was always the most likely option for McColl’s to turn to, as many of the stores it supplies are within close proximity of the P&H sites.

All of the McColl’s stores previously supplied by P&H will receive ambient stock delivered through existing Nisa-supplied McColl’s stores, for onward transfer by McColl’s teams.

“I’m very pleased that Nisa has been selected by McColl’s to further support them at this crucial time. We have a highly flexible distribution model that enables us to scale quickly to members needs and as demand dictates,” said Nisa interim CEO Arnu Misra. “As a result, we will continue to manage both existing and new members without impacting our traditionally high levels of service, especially over the peak trading period.”