Overhaul picks up as Nisa adds more members

The Scunthorpe-based group said it enjoyed particularly strong recruitment in the third quarter, with 199 new stores joining Nisa in this period alone.

Last week, Nisa also revealed that it enjoyed a “strong “Christmas trading performance. Nisa reported increased sales of 6.3 per cent to £254m for the 10 weeks to January 3, 2016.

A spokesman said: “The growth, which sees the number of retail sites supported by Nisa rise to over 3,000, reflects the progress made by the new management team since February 2015.

“As part of its turnaround Nisa has successfully focused on providing more competitive pricing and sharper promotional offers to retailers.”

Nisa said it had also taken steps to improve its distribution and service offering, “both to existing retailers and to a broader spectrum of businesses seeking enhanced service, products and value”.

Mr Read said: “Nisa’s ability to serve and develop a wide range of business types, from symbol retailers through to independent groups, and new start-up operations that need intensive support, sets us apart from our competitors.

“Our improved retailer recruitment is a testament to our distribution, flexible service, popular chilled product range and award-winning Heritage brand. In an increasingly competitive trading environment, it is our success in these areas that has convinced independent retailers to choose Nisa Retail, and we look forward to welcoming more retailers seeking to benefit from our leading services and scale.”

Today, Nisa supports more than 1,300 member retailers, operating 3,000 retail sites throughout the UK. Some of these retailers operate under the Nisa brand.

Nisa supplies the stock and retail support that enables them to grow their businesses.

Mr Read, a former Aldi and Tesco director, was appointed as CEO in February last year, with a remit to return the business to profitability.

In November last year, Nisa Retail secured a refinancing deal with Barclays, as the new management team developed plans to grow the business.

The deal saw Nisa extend its facility by 24 months while also gaining additional funding to support the supply contract for the new My Local business.

The business has secured a number of high-value contract wins in recent months, including the £1bn five-year contract with the My Local business and the five-year £250m contract extension with Ramsden International.

Speaking in November, Mr Read said: “The last financial year was not a good one, but we put in place robust measures to ensure Nisa would not suffer again this year. It was imperative that we returned the business to profitable growth.”

Mr Read joined Nisa from Thomas Cook, where he was group customer service director. He has also held the position of customer experience director at Lloyds Banking Group, customer service director at Tesco and was a consultant at Deloitte Consulting’s consumer and retail practice.

Mr Read started his career at Aldi, where he held various roles, starting in store operations and ending as purchasing director.

Nick Read became chief executive at Scunthorpe-based Nisa in February last year, with a straightforward mission – to return the business to profit.

He took over from Neil Turton, who left to join a retail insight firm after a 23-year career at Nisa.

Mr Read’s appointment followed a time of change at Nisa. Over the past few years Nisa has fended off takeover approaches from York-based Costcutter and Bibby Line.

Last year, Nisa revealed that it planned to expand in the rapidly growing convenience sector. It has reported strong growth in the recruitment of new independent retailers.

Nisa was formed in 1977 to protect the interests of independent retailers against the growth of the big players.

With the retail sector dominated by the multiples, Nisa aims to negotiate the best deals on products to allow its members to compete effectively.

Nisa now works with more than 3,000 retail sites across the UK.