Filshill recruits Gary Milligan as regional development manager
JW Filshill has appointed Gary Milligan as regional development manager for Edinburgh, the Lothians and Borders.
Milligan (pictured) joins the Glasgow-based wholesaler from pet food firm Kennelpak, where he was business development manager. His previous experience also includes working in similar roles for United Wholesale Grocers and Bestway.
Filshill, which operates the KeyStore and KeyStore More retail fascias, is experiencing a period of robust growth and is ramping up resources.
“This is a key appointment for us as we seek to grow the KeyStore estate,” said Filshill’s chief sales & marketing officer Craig Brown. “Since March last year, our work with customers to fully equip them to trade throughout the pandemic has been instrumental in many new customers approaching us to join KeyStore. We have continued to build on this and are delighted that Gary Milligan has joined the Filshill family to keep up the momentum in the east of Scotland.
“Gary will work with these customers to stimulate growth and increase profitability in a competitive convenience marketplace that continues to evolve and throw up challenges, while helping them retain the flexibility to run their stores the way they want to and offer a point of difference over their competitors.
“His technology experience and interest in our use of data, including our industry-leading EPoS system, online ordering and click & collect operation which has transformed our business for the digital age, will help us attract the type of tech-savvy, entrepreneurial retailers with the community at their heart who will shine a spotlight on the KeyStore brand.
“KeyStore has good visibility in the east of Scotland and Gary’s knowledge of the territory will be crucial in helping us achieve our goals.”
Milligan commented: “I’ve long been aware of the company’s reputation within the industry and was particularly attracted by its family approach and low staff turnover, with many people working for the company for over 10, 20 and even 30 years.
“It’s an exciting time to be joining a forward-thinking business that is setting out its own stall for future growth by moving into a new distribution depot and head office premises next year, and I’m really looking forward to getting to know my customers in the east of Scotland, forging new relationships and helping make their businesses stronger over the coming months.
“As someone who’s already heavily involved in my own local area through my under-14s football team I’m also looking forward to helping retailers recognise how important community involvement is to their business and how supporting local good causes can transfer into increased sales.”
Currently supplying over 200 independent KeyStore outlets across Scotland and the north of England, Filshill is a member of Unitas Wholesale.
