Nisa bullish on future growth as sales rise
CONVENIENCE store group Nisa is in bullish mood after seeing sales climb 10.5% to £1.58bn while volumes increased 12.9%.
The business, which was founded by Yorkshire retailer Peter Garvin and Dudley Ramsden, a Grimsby wholesaler, in 1977 also reported EBITDA of £12.3m for the year to March 31, boosted by a contract to supply around 400 McColl’s convenience stores.
Nisa, which supports 4,000 independent retailers across the UK, said the strong performance follows a record Christmas that saw 16.4% growth year on year.
It recruited 692 stores in the last 12 months and says on average, retailers who join Nisa see a sales uplift of around 10% within the first year.
Nisa is growing through a focused investment plan that has seen a new own label range, which it plans to develop from a £200m to £500m brand, and store formats rolled out in 2014.
Nisa launched the first of its new store formats in April following a detailed analysis of its existing store formats and shopper missions, and both stores opened to a double digit uplift in sales.
Neil Turton, CEO of Nisa is bullish about future growth: “The convenience sector is in a period of expansion with a number of operators looking to increase their estate, but convenience store development is a tough thing to get right.
“Our new formats recognise that shoppers in different locations want different things, so we can’t simply operate a one size fits all model and say this is going to be the best in the market. The first two new format sites we’ve launched, have a very different store offer specific to the local area. It’s an evolving project but early signs are positive with the Cardiff store experiencing a sales uplift of 21% in its first week trading and the Peterborough site seeing a 11.5% uplift.”
Nisa supports more than 1,200 local retailers and 4,000 stores across the UK. Some operate under the Nisa brand and others under their own names. Nisa supplies the stock they need and retail support that helps them grow their business.
Annual accounts for Scunthorpe-based Nisa have yet to be filed at Companies House. In the year to March 31 2013 it reported pre-tax profit of £3.3m, down from £3.8m.
Jon Greenwood, University Of York commercial director, said: “We joined Nisa to maximise profitability and in my opinion I felt Nisa has that extra “edge” because of the strong team behind it.
“I have had no end of support from Nisa which resulted in a smooth and easy journey. Their team has been very hands on, such as visiting our opening day, listening to our opinions and helping us to upgrade the shop to meet consumer demand.”
The convenience sector is undergoing rapid expansion as the nation’s shopping habits change. Analysts predict the sector will grow by £10bn in the next five years.
