![]() Logo used in the UK since 2016 | |
![]() Logo used in Ireland until 2024, and previously in the UK until 2016 | |
Company type | Franchising |
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Industry | Retail |
Founded | 1986 |
Headquarters |
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Number of locations | 1,700 [1] |
Area served | |
Products | Grocer's shop, convenience shops |
Parent | Barry Group (Costcutter Ireland) Bestway Wholesale (Costcutter UK) |
Subsidiaries |
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Website |
Costcutter is a chain of convenience shops, supermarkets and off-licences that operates in Ireland, Great Britain and Poland. The chain operates primarily as a symbol group and is owned by Barry Group in the Republic of Ireland and by Bestway Wholesale in the United Kingdom. [2] [3]
In the UK, the group owns the Costcutter, Kwik Save, Supershop, and Simply Fresh brands.
Costcutter was founded in 1986, by Colin Graves. [4]
In 2000, the brand entered the Irish market as a separate business under the ownership of Barry Group.
By 2006, there were some 1,400 shops under the Costcutter brand, [4] with the majority of shops being in the United Kingdom, and 120 shops in the Republic of Ireland and 52 in Poland. [5]
A proposed merger with Nisa-Today's collapsed in November 2006, after concerns about a cartel. [4] which were reported to the Office of Fair Trading by members of Nisa-Today's, who opposed the merger. [6]
Costcutter revived the Kwik Save brand in 2012, from a separate chain which had ceased trading. [7]
In 2018, The Co-Op Group made an offer of £15 million in an attempt to take ownership of Costcutter. The bid was rejected, but it was believed the Costcutter was open to further talks. [8] The Co-op subsequently became the sole supplier to the Costcutter group. [9]
In 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Costcutter built 20 pop-up shops in NHS hospitals. [10]
In December 2020, Costcutter's UK business was acquired by the wholesaler Bestway. The Co-op supply agreement continues. [11] Its Irish business remains in the ownership of Barry Group. [3]
Somerfield (;) was a chain of small to medium-sized supermarkets operating in the United Kingdom. The business started life in the 19th century as grocers J. H. Mills, and after a series of buyouts and mergers, the company became known as Gateway. A major rebranding to the created Somerfield brand started in 1990, and in 1998 the company purchased the Kwik Save chain of discount food stores. The company was taken over by the Co-operative Group on 2 March 2009 in a £1.57 billion deal, creating the UK's fifth-largest food retailer. The Somerfield name was replaced by the Co-operative brand in a rolling programme of store conversions ending in summer 2011.
A symbol group is a form of franchise of convenience shops, found primarily in the United Kingdom and Ireland. They do not own or operate shops, but act as suppliers to independent shops which then trade under a common banner.
The Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op and formerly known as the Co-operative Wholesale Society, is a British consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses, including grocery retail and wholesale, legal services, funerals and insurance, and social enterprise.
Kwik Save is a British convenience store chain. Prior to 2007, it was also a discount supermarket chain that had shops across the United Kingdom. It went into administration in July 2007, but was brought back in April 2012. Its shops were small to medium-sized high street supermarkets, mainly located in areas with below average incomes.
In the Republic of Ireland, the retail sector provides one of the largest sources of employment in the economy, representing over 12% of the workforce. As of 2017, approximately 40,000 wholesale and retail businesses employed almost 280,000 people in Ireland, with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment reporting that 90% of these businesses were Irish-owned.
The United Kingdom is home to a widespread and diverse co-operative movement, with over 7,000 registered co-operatives owned by 17 million individual members and which contribute £34bn a year to the British economy. Modern co-operation started with the Rochdale Pioneers' shop in the northern English town of Rochdale in 1844, though the history of co-operation in Britain can be traced back to before 1800. The British co-operative movement is most commonly associated with The Co-operative brand which has been adopted by several large consumers' co-operative societies; however, there are many thousands of registered co-operative businesses operating in the UK. Alongside these consumers' co-operatives, there exist many prominent agricultural co-operatives (621), co-operative housing providers (619), health and social care cooperatives (111), cooperative schools (834), retail co-operatives, co-operatively run community energy projects, football supporters' trusts, credit unions, and worker-owned businesses.
A consumers' co-operative is an enterprise owned by consumers and managed democratically and that aims at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of its members. Such co-operatives operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a form of mutual aid, oriented toward service rather than pecuniary profit. Many cooperatives, however, do have a degree of profit orientation. Just like other corporations, some cooperatives issue dividends to owners based on a share of total net profit or earnings ; or based on a percentage of the total amount of purchases made by the owner. Regardless of whether they issue a dividend or not, most consumers’ cooperatives will offer owners discounts and preferential access to goods and services.
The Penrith Co-operative Society Limited, known locally as Penrith Co-op, was a small regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. The society was formed in 1890 and at the time of its merger with Scotmid it operated one department store with supermarket attached and eight small supermarkets or convenience stores in Cumbria and County Durham.
Nisa Retail Limited is a groceries wholesaler operating in the United Kingdom. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Co-operative Group, though itself not a cooperative.
Albert Gubay, KC*SG was a Welsh businessman and philanthropist, who made his fortune with the Kwik Save retail chain, building it further on investments, mainly in property development. According to Forbes, in 2006 Gubay had an estimated fortune of approximately £500 million, making him the 698th richest person in the world.
FreshXpress was a discount supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. It was originally formed in 2007, from the rump of the defunct Kwik Save chain, by Irish retail entrepreneur Brendan Murtagh.
Mace is a convenience shop symbol group operating as three separate entities with different ownerships in Great Britain, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The shops are independently owned and join the groups, paying a fee for marketing and branding support and purchasing their stock from the brand owners.
Co-op is a UK supermarket chain and the brand used for the food retail business of The Co-operative Group, one of the world’s largest consumer co-operatives. As the UK’s fifth largest food retailer, Co-op operates nearly 2,400 food stores. It also supplies products to over 6,000 other stores, including those run by independent co-operative societies, through its wholesale business, Nisa Retail Limited.
Gala is a convenience shop chain in Ireland. Established in 1998, as of 2021 Gala had approximately 250 shops nationwide, all under franchise. The symbol group is supplied by a number of independent wholesalers which were formerly part of the National Wholesale group. In 2008, the brand recognised its tenth year in business. Gary Desmond is the chief executive officer.
Well, formerly known as The Co-operative Pharmacy, is the second largest overall pharmacy chain after the company Boots in the United Kingdom. It is the largest pharmacy chain in Wales.
Bestway Group Limited is a British conglomerate founded by Sir Anwar Pervez in 1976. The group operates in the United Kingdom and Pakistan, and is currently based in London.
In the United Kingdom, it is common practice for retailers to have their own value brand in an effort to compete on price. These brands have become more popular in the UK with shoppers since the Great Recession caused food prices to rise.
Bestway Wholesale Holdings Limited is a British food and drink wholesale business, founded in 1976 by Sir Anwar Pervez.