Eurospar

Henderson Group saw growth across both the independent stores it supplies and its company-owned estate

Turnover at Northern Irish Spar wholesaler Henderson Group rose 3.8% to £1.4bn last year.

Henderson Group saw growth across both the independent stores it supplies and its company-owned estate, boosted by a focus on customer service and shoppers carrying out more frequent missions in a bid to minimise waste, the business said.

It also attributed the “solid growth” to its warehouse facilities which helped to ensure “strong stock availability”, as well as an investment in wholesale and retail pricing.

The company also spent £26m across its company-owned estate, which consists of Spar, Eurospar and Vivo fascias, on expanding and rebuilding stores. It also opened five Eurospar supermarkets in 2024, ahead of celebrating the brand’s 25th anniversary in Northern Ireland this year.

Last year ended with the company operating 110 Spar and Eurpspar stores in Northern Ireland. Pre-tax profit for 2024 was £63m, which was approximately £6m lower than in 2023.

Its foodservice division, which supplies to over 4,500 customers throughout the hospitality, education and healthcare sectors across Ireland, contributed £250m to the group’s overall turnover in 2024, which amounted to a 10.8% rise in sales compared to the year before.

Henderson said this was thanks to its exclusive new contracts with K&G McAtamney Wholesale Meats, Premier Wholesale Produce and The Food Heroes Koffmann’s.

The company’s retail coffee-to-go brand experienced significant growth and now has over 800 Barista units in 620 retail sites across the UK.

“The impact of inflation, higher interest rates and general deterioration in consumer sentiment made for a more challenging start to 2024,” said Henderson Group chief financial officer Neil Gamble.

“The directors continued to invest in retail and wholesaling prices to deliver better value for both retailers and shoppers, while our store refit, development and new openings, logistics, IT infrastructure and people development investments built a good foundation for future sustainable growth, which we are maintaining at a satisfactory level of profit so far in 2025.

“We are encouraged by the volume growth we have experienced in 2025, reflecting growing popularity with the consumer for our proposition.”

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