When Charles Wilson took the helm of Booker in November 2005 he faced a mammoth task to turn the business around. "Calls from the bank manager were not something we looked forward to," he admits of life immediately after the business posted half-year results to September 2005 revealing debt of £361m and a fall in pre-tax profit of 41%.

A year and half later, however, the picture is looking decidedly rosy. By September, 2006 debt had been slashed to £70m. Wilson hopes to have wiped another chunk off by this autumn. Better still, staff are no longer worried by bankruptcy, morale is high and all branches and categories are monitored weekly for customer satisfaction. So how has he done it?

His game plan, he says, was one of - "choice up, prices down, better service" - and came from listening to customers. "It wasn't nice to hear, but they told us our ranges had got worse, our prices had gone up and our service levels had gone down. Ultimately it cost us £500m in sales."

In terms of choice up, Booker's main focus was on improving its fresh range, which Wilson believes presents a real opportunity for independent retailers if they get the basics right.

"Retailers don't need to stock a wide range but if they start with something simple like our new banana tree display they will be able to see the extra sales," he says.

The wholesaler has switched from sourcing its fresh produce centrally to using 14 local markets, which it says allows it to get produce one and a half days fresher. This also enabled it to cut some prices by up to 30%.

"Local sourcing is something the multiples have always struggled with and so it is something that independents can invest in," he says.

Booker is running a trial in Kent in which producers of local chutneys, juices and meats are all ranged together in its depots under a Kent banner. Wilson says the reaction has been encouraging with retailers keen to champion local produce.

Booker has also extended its premium offering with a number of new Champagne and fair trade lines. At the same time it has cut 600 prices across its range and introduced Booker Basics, a new value range.

Availability was also high on Wilson's agenda and has improved by 2%, even more for "must-stocks".

Each must-stock is given a special green ticket on shelf and depot staff are charged with ensuring these lines are always available. Promotional compliance has reached 90%.

"We now feel we have a good mix of good, better, best. Our availability is good and staff are much more enthusiastic about the business, he says, but adds: "We can still do much better. Even in the areas we have focused on already, such as fresh produce, we are still looking to improve the range."

Booker is also looking to tailor its offer to the predominant customer demand in each geographical area.

For example, at its St Pancras depot in London the majority of customers are caterers. Hence the front of the depot is given over to catering and alcohol lines. In areas of the country where the mix is more weighted towards independent retailers, lines that appeal to them are front of house. Booker is working with eight ranging blueprints, which depot managers can tailor accordingly.

Booker is also working to improve its retail offer through its Premier symbol fascia scheme, which currently has 1,898 stores.

This figure has remained static in the past 12 months. However, the quality of the mix has improved dramatically, says Wilson, pointing out that while it has lost about 300 underperorming stores, it has picked up about the same number of better-performing stores.

"We are keen to have the right sort of retailers," says Wilson. "We are concentrating on getting better promotions and implementing these better. Of course, as well as our Premier retailers we have 108,000 other retailers who use us for their main shop and we are also doing a better job for them."

There is plenty of competition, but by building a business on the foundations of what its customers want, Wilson is confident Booker has what it takes to succeed.

"We want to be the UK's best and biggest supplier to small business and suppliers' preferred route to market in the UK," he says. "To do that we need to be flexible and continue to listen to our customers."n

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