Scotmid rolls out ‘concept store’ with more food-to-go treats as sales hold steady

Chief executive Karen Scott said the group was investing across its store estate, including undertaking a multi‑million‑pound technology upgrade in new tills and self‑scan checkouts.

A new concept store in Uddingston is scheduled to open next week, subject to building control warrants, with a further new store planned for Burghead in Moray this summer. In addition, further investment has been committed to upgrade an existing branch in Burnhead, North Lanarkshire.

Scott was outlining the capital spending plans as the group reported a “resilient” performance for the year ended January 31. Overall sales came in at £432 million, an increase of £3m year on year, including a 53rd week of trading.

A trading profit of £1m was down on the previous year but reflected substantial disruption to its supply chain as a result of last year’s cyber-attack on the Co-op Group, where many of its products are sourced.

This compounded wider market challenges, including rising labour and compliance costs, increased pressure on already squeezed household budgets and heightened competition.

“We said that the year was going to be challenging because of rising costs such as the national minimum wage increases and the national insurance threshold changes,” observed Scott. “What we could never have planned for was the cyber-attack. That impacted us from a supply chain perspective and affected our overall footfall.

“We have done a lot to get our customer footfall back - investing in targeted marketing, advertising and promotions. We are almost back to where we were pre-attack but it has been tough to get there.”

The new concept store will showcase a wider range of food-to-go products, impulse products, a “beer cave” and see the introduction of some new ranges.

“Like everything else, you trial things and if they work you expand them and continue to innovate,” noted Scott, who said there was the potential to roll out elements of the new-look store more widely.

At the bottom line, the group posted a loss before tax of £1.5m, reflecting the reduced trading profit due to the impact of external disruption as well as society transformation spend. By year end, the financial position had strengthened, with net assets increasing to £128.9m and net debt reducing to £21.1m.

Scotmid also returned to its roots with the opening of a new 4,000-square-foot food store in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, located near the site of the original historic St Cuthbert’s Co‑operative headquarters.

Scott added: “We have just completed major investment in new tills and some of that is self-scan. It gives the customer the option to use them but we do still have manned tills.

“As a community retailer it’s really important to us that we continue to engage with our customers and members. It might be the only person they get to see and speak to that day.”

The society has been at the heart of Scottish communities since 1859. These days its businesses encompass Scotmid Co-operative, operating hundreds of local convenience stores, Lakes & Dales Co-operative, Semichem, its funeral division, post offices and property investment. The Edinburgh-headquartered group employs almost 3,500 people in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England.

“Looking ahead, our priorities are clear. We remain focused on strengthening retail performance, improving efficiency and continuing targeted investment to support long‑term sustainability and future growth,” added Scott.

Scotmid rocked by Co-op cyber-attack in half-year ‘like no other’