Parfetts Cash & Carry has moved the buying function for all six branches to its Stockport head office.

The board said the switch would “enable depots to fully focus on the vital areas of availability, presentation and customer service”.

All order placements are now the responsibility of the head office trading team, except short-date departments and cigarettes, which continue to be handled at branch level.

While butchery will still be available in all depots, meat will be distributed from the Halifax and Somercotes depots and will be overseen by foodservice managers – a newly-created position.

Greg Suszczenia: ‘This is the right time to realign.’

Joint managing director Greg Suszczenia said: “The structure of the business has served the company well for 35 years, but it is now inappropriate for our future plans.

“The key levers have changed greatly in recent years, particularly with the growth of our Go Local symbol group, click & collect and now with our exciting new delivered Go Local Direct project, known as GOLD.

“This is the right time to re-align in order to facilitate the migration of our business from traditional cash & carries to local business hubs. As always, our aim is to be best in class for customer service and availability.”

The restructure has affected ‘a small number’ of depot employees, although it has also resulted in some newly-created positions at the head office and in depots.

The senior management structure of each branch now includes general managers, operational managers, supply chain managers and supply chain administrators – all with direct communication to the head office trading department. Parfetts is now recruiting for these roles, internally and externally.

Commenting on the changes, operations director Andy Whitworth said: “Moving to central buying is just one part of the current restructure; we are also working to improve the experience our customers have in the depots.

“Reception areas will no longer be just an entrance, they will become the heart of the depot, with all the senior depot staff being based there, providing bespoke solutions to customers’ requirements. We are also opening our cigarette areas to customers, allowing them to browse and interact more freely. Both these key areas have historically been closed environments.

“We think that, by taking these steps, it will assist greatly towards our stated goal, which is to be best in class regarding customer service and availability, which is set at a pretty high bar already for Parfetts.”

Tel: Parfetts Cash & Carry (01773) 833831