Appleby Westward announces £10m investment and new divisional board

Appleby Westward, the southwest-based SPAR retailer and wholesaler, has announced a £10 million-plus capital investment programme.

Scheduled to get underway this year is an £8.5 million project at the company’s headquarters in Saltash, Cornwall.

“A warehouse extension will be built on the land we own adjacent to our current warehouse buildings,” explained managing director Mike Boardman. “In addition to the new building, we will be improving on-site car parking, redesigning and refitting the office facilities and modernising the existing warehouse buildings.”

Among new warehousing facilities will be a chilled cross deck, enabling the company to provide multi-temperature deliveries from its Saltash site and the Gregory Distribution facility at Cullompton.

In addition, a £1.6 million programme to invest in the development of the 140-strong company-owned stores estate will run throughout the year. The aim is to improve the fabric of stores for both customers and store staff, ensuring back-of-house facilities are upgraded and redecorated.

Appleby Westward has also set aside £500,000 for co-investment store development programmes for its independent SPAR retailers and is targeting the recruitment of 35 stores to the business this year.

“These projects demonstrate our continued success and intention to grow the business over the coming years,” said Boardman. “It will help us to remain at the heart of our communities, help more independent customers to flourish with us as a partner, and help to provide more job opportunities and career development for our colleagues.”

Appleby Westward has also created a new divisional board.

Lucie Coleman is one of the recruits to the new divisional board

Kelvin Beardsley has been appointed operations director, Lucie Coleman joins as retail director, and Duncan Jelfs is the new commercial director. Existing group finance director Joe Keohane also joins the new board.

Beardsley has several years’ experience directing operations in the logistics industry, including for Toolstation and ATS Euromaster; Coleman joins from Jollyes – The Pet People, which has 80 stores and where she was retail director; and Jelfs has 30 years’ experience in the retail sector and joins from Bestway where he was head of Bargain Booze and Co-op franchise.

Boardman said: “This move is designed to strengthen the senior management structure within the Appleby Westward Group to reflect both the rapid sales growth within the organisation and the increasing complexity of our operations.

“All members of the new divisional board will report to me and will assume responsibility of corporate governance, strategic planning and budget setting, together with the delivery of key projects and profit and loss management.”