If you’re not doing chilled properly, you’re doomed A tour around Peter Robinson’s latest shop STORE LOOKBOOK Page 8 RETAIL NEWS THAT MATTERS l £2.40 l 17.02.2017 » We’ll help you tap into Tesco expertise l Systems, support and range advice will help strengthen independent retailers l Exclusive interview with Booker chief exec Charles Wilson and retail MD Steve Fox Page 6 » things driving your magazine profits in 2017Vol 128 No 07 Page 36 » FOR TRADE USE ONLY +9 07 2 17 February 2017 RN CONTENTS Shaping the future What’s the future of independent retail for premium since 1889 tobacco? Page 32 Editor Associate editor News editor Chris Gamm Chris Rolfe Gurpreet Samrai @ChrisGammRN @ChrisRolfeRN @GurpreetS_RN 020 7689 3378 020 7689 3362 020 7689 3386 Features editor Reporter Reporter Tom Gockelen-Kozlowski Charlie Faulkner Dave Songer @TomGK_RN @CharlieFaulkRN @DaveSongerRN 020 7689 3361 020 7689 3357 020 7689 3358 Reporter Head of production Senior designer Jennifer Hardwick Darren Rackham Anne-Claire Pickard @JenniferH_RN @DarrenRackhamRN 020 7689 3391 020 7689 3350 020 7689 3373 “We know you don’t force a Designer Account managers Marketing executive retailer to do something they Emma Langschied Marta Dziok-Kaczynska Keelan Farley 020 7689 3380 020 7689 3354 020 7689 3356 don’t want to do ” Production Erin Swanson Financial controller coordinator 020 7689 3372 Parin Gohil Booker chief exec Charles Wilson Page 6 Billy Allen Marketing manager 020 7689 3375 020 7689 3368 Tom Mulready Managing director Director of sales 020 7689 3352 Nick Shanagher Mike Baillie Marketing executive 07966 530 001 020 7689 3367 Tom Thorn HEADLINES Account director 020 7689 3384 Will Hoad 020 7689 3370 4 BREAKING NEWS 20 WHAT’S NEW? How do symbols’ FSA food Kent produce in focus hygiene ratings stack up? If you do not receive your copy of RN please contact Tom Thorn 22 PRICEWATCH on 020 7689 3384 or email [email protected] 6 RN INTERVIEW Benchmark your red wine prices Printed by Southernprint, Poole, on 80gsm Galerie Fine Gloss paper Booker’s Charles Wilson and Distributor Seymour Distribution, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London, EC1A 9PT Steve Fox on the merger roadshow Audit Bureau of Circulations July 2015 to June 2016 average net circulation per issue 13,316 8 STORE LOOKBOOK OPINION Annual Subscription Peter Robinson’s new Londis UK 1 year £150 Europe £302 18 YOUR NEWS 12 SYMBOL NEWS 2 years £237 Rest of world £354 Retailers beef up store security 3 years £333 New forum for influential c-stores To subscribe contact 020 7689 3384 24 YOUR VIEWS 13 PROPERTY PERSPECTIVE Your letters, comments Newtrade Christie & Co’s Steve Rodell 11 Angel Gate, City Road, London EC1V 2SD and tweets of the week Tel 020 7689 0600 14 PRODUCT TRENDS email [email protected] Organic goods driving growth RN is published by Newtrade Publishing Limited, which is wholly owned by NFRN Holdings Ltd, which is How to wholly owned by the Benefits Fund of the National Federation of Retail Newsagents. 15 BRAND SNAPSHOT Retail Newsagent is editorially independent of the NFRN and opinions, comments and reviews included are manage not necessarily those of the Federation and no warranty for goods or services described is implied. News from 12 big brands Reproduction or transmission in part or whole of any item from RN may only be undertaken with the prior written agreement of the Editor. shop-saves Contributions are welcomed and are included in part or whole at the sole discretion of the editor. 17 NEWS & MAGS Newtrade accepts no responsibility for submitted material. Every possible The magazines in growth Advice Centre Page 35 care is taken to ensure the accuracy of information. For trade use only RN 17 February 2017 3 Follow RN Follow RN Email & Visit the TALK f on Facebook on twitter phone RN website facebook.com/ThisisRN @ThisisRN for expert advice to email [email protected] www.betterretailing.com/RN TO RN to have your say on the latest news help you grow your sales tel 020 7689 0600 extensive galleries and news WELCOME What links all three reader groups is your engagement, hunger to learn and constant search for new opportunities MY BIGGEST CHALLENGE hen planning the changes we made YET to RN in December, one key factor Page 8 was understanding who our read- Wers are and what information they want from us now and in the future. We identified three groups: ambitious convenience stores, news specialists and influential NFRN retailers. Editor We aim to give all three groups value every INSIGHT Chris Gamm week you can’t get anywhere else, and this is- @ChrisGammRN sue is a great example. 26 DIGITAL 020 7689 3378 It features an exclusive interview with Part two of RN’s three-part Booker’s chief executive Charles Wilson and guide to setting the right retail managing director Steve Fox about the digital strategy message it has been sharing with retailers on its merger road- 29 COLUMNIST shows, and how they will help independent retailers grow by Paul Baxter on retail crime tapping into Tesco’s retail expertise and click & collect net- work. 32 PREMIUM TOBACCO For news specialists, RN is the only place to find newsstand- Why it’s still important only data. We remove bulk copies to provide insight on what is 35 ADVICE CENTRE truly happening in the news and magazines categories. How to manage shop-saves This week our data experts have analysed the six-monthly magazine ABC circulation results and identified nine trends 36 MAGAZINE ABCS that are driving profits in your store. Exclusive analysis of the For our third reader group, ahead of next week’s NFRN na- latest results plus nine tional council meeting, this week’s Lookbook features national trends to focus on Many MPs don’t appreciate the true councillor Peter Robinson’s new store. Chief executive Paul 41 THIS WEEK IN Baxter also writes about the key issue on next week’s agenda – MAGAZINES scale of retail crime raising the profile of retail crime. £1m launch of but we intend to What links all three reader groups is your engagement, hun- Assassin’s Creed rectify that ger to learn and constant search for new opportunities. I’m NFRN chief executive, confident you’ll find plenty of ideas over the next 48 pages. Paul Baxter Page 29 4 17 February 2017 RN BREAKING NEWS Government RN research discovers indies lagging behind multiples ‘The key is to keep it simple’ ‘should cut all rates’ Show you take food hygiene The government should help all retailers by reduc- ing the total amount of revenue it collects from seriously, c-stores warned business rates rather than increasing the number of Shane Woolston, of businesses exempt from by Toby Hill and Gurpreet Samrai Budgens Aylsham, said: Symbol and franchise groups the charge, a rates expert “We pride ourselves on has said. [email protected] our food hygiene, and in Group Stores % scoring Average John Webber, property a previous survey came rated 4 or 5 rating agency Colliers Interna- Independent retailers must demonstrate they fourth out of 180 Budgens tional’s head of rating, said stores in the UK. The coun- One Stop 845 93% 4.64 most convenience stores are taking food hygiene cil give us a pack and a Budgens 129 91% 4.53 no longer qualify for small seriously to improve their ratings, a retail specialist guide we can follow. business relief because “It helps us organise all Mace 587 85% 4.41 their rateable value is above has warned. It comes as RN the diferent sections and 21 81% 4.28 £15,000. research shows an average Family Shopper 74% of symbol and franchise make sure we have put “There aren’t many Bargain Booze 261 81% 4.16 stores are achieving high processes and procedures convenience stores that in place.” are below that threshold so ratings, compared to 98% of Go Local Extra 19 79% 3.95 multiples. It comes as new legis- most of them are going to Spar 1,841 78% 4.22 The research, based lation for the mandatory get hammered,” he said. display of food hygiene Meanwhile, a symbol re- on the Food Standards Premier 1,051 77% 4.20 Agency’s food hygiene ratings is set to come into tail development manager force in Nisa 631 75% 4.08 has launched a petition ratings, found England Londis 627 74% 4.02 calling for the government in 2019. to “dramatically reduce” One Stop and Frank Costcutter 670 69% 3.88 business rates for small Woods, stores. Budgens Lifestyle Express 148 67% 3.86 stores retail “Independent stores are and Best-one 312 67% 3.77 fighting hard to survive had the highest whole- Today’s 58 62% 3.88 and this would help level sale spe-cialist at NFU the playing field,” said peti- number of stores scoring four and five, Mutual, told RN retailers Simply Fresh 14 36% 3.07 tion organiser Richard need to act now after its Shorney. at 93% and 91% respectively. Andrew King, One Food Hygiene Rating Stop franchise director, Report shows 44% of How the big four compare said: “The key is to keep shoppers would turn away Imperial’s it simple. Our operating from their favourite places £10k prize model enables our to buy food if a rating of less Sainsbury’s 1,147 99% 4.96 franchisees and their than four was on display. Tesco 1,949 99% 4.89 Retailers could win up teams to run store routines “There’s a standardised to £10,000 from Imperial more efciently.