Parfetts opens Southampton depot in a ‘landmark moment’

Noel Robinson and Guy Swindell, joint managing directors of Parfetts, at the Southampton depot opening.

Described by Parfetts as a landmark moment for independent retail across the South of England, the employee-owned wholesaler officially opened the doors of its new 113,000 sq ft Southampton depot this morning (3 September).

Enthusiasm from the retail community is evident in the 400 customers that had already registered before the opening. Of those, 90 have been receiving deliveries from the new site at Hedge End Retail Park for the past couple of months – the orders were picked and packed at the wholesaler’s Birmingham depot and transported overnight to Southampton for delivery to customers the following day.

Three Go Local/Go Local Extra stores have already opened in the area, and another 20 are waiting for conversion to one of Parfetts’ fascias: Go Local, Go Local Extra, Shop & Go and The Local. Approximately 20% of these stores are new sites or owned by people who are new to retail; the remainder have switched from competitor symbol groups, according to joint managing director Noel Robinson.

The opening day saw an impressive turnout.

Commenting on the buzz of the opening day, joint managing director Guy Swindell said: “The 400 customer registrations are similar to what we saw at our Birmingham branch [opened March 2023] and the turnout today is reminiscent of our Birmingham open day, so we are really encouraged by that.”

Customers visiting the new cash & carry can benefit from a special launch promotion running until 13 September. The activity on site also includes supplier stands, competitions, food trucks, and the Parfetts executive team on hand to meet customers alongside the depot team.

Customers can take advantage of a special launch promotion running until 13 September.

Southampton is Parfetts’ ninth branch in the UK, and operates on a 24-hour basis – cash & carry by day, distribution centre by night – the same as the other Parfetts branches.

The C&C/delivered operator is recruiting more delivered customers and serving a base that currently extends east to Twickenham, west to Exeter and north to Oxford. This area connects with the customer base served by Parfetts’ Birmingham branch, reinforcing its commitment to serving customers nationwide.

Parfetts has a field sales team of seven people working out of the Southampton branch, supported by the 50-strong team that work across the estate. “We really value those people out on the road,” said Swindell. “For a lot of independent retailers, that is their key point of contact so we continue to invest in that people resource.”

Parfetts has invested around £5 million to refit the warehouse. “We’re really pleased with the facility – it looks incredible,” Swindell remarked. “We’ve championed cash & carry, investing in it across the estate. For example, we’ve pushed digital to aid supplier activations, and invested in our team structures and the supply chain. We’ve got what we believe is a really good formula in our other branches and we were keen to move that down here.”

General manager Graham Barton has strong local knowledge.

The depot offers a range of around 9,000 lines, similar to the offering at the 100,000 sq ft Birmingham depot but with minor tweaks to take account of local preferences. General manager Graham Barton – who previously spent 33 years at Palmer & Harvey and seven years at Bestway/Batleys including managing the Fareham depot – has a lot of experience in the area, so Parfetts has taken his guidance on range and depot displays.

He is supported at Southampton by a senior management team that includes Stuart Clark and Glenn Underwood as supply chain managers, Hollie Whitfield as delivered manager, Nigel Drake overseeing goods-in, and Elaine Walker managing front-of-house operations. Many of the team bring established working relationships and a proven track record of working in wholesale. In total, more than 100 new jobs have been created.

Although Bestway and Booker are already operating in Southampton, Parfetts’ opening marks the first new cash & carry facility in the region in 25 years.

“Wherever we go there is competition – we remain focused on Parfetts and the retailers,” said Swindon. “We were pleased to see that we came out top out again in the Lumina report [Symbol Wholesale Index 2025]. Customers were talking about our range, our prices, our service, our big investment in our people, our brand, and the level of the retail club, the marketing support, and the store development and merchandising support that we offer. We are there to partner, to support – we do not dictate – and I think retailers enjoy that relationship.”

Robinson added: “There is an option for everybody here, regardless of size or type of store, and from just needing a top-up cash & carry to a delivered service or being full in on our symbol. We’re very, very flexible.”

Robinson and Swindell confirmed that there will be a 10th Parfetts depot but would not disclose any more information at this stage.