Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Retail |
Founded | Le Riches Jersey (1818) |
Headquarters | Channel Islands, Gibraltar, Isle of Man |
Products | Grocery, General merchandise |
Website | sandpiperci |
SandpiperCI is a retail and food and beverage operator based in the Channel Islands. It mostly operates franchises of British chain stores, such as Marks & Spencer, Costa Coffee, Burger King and Matalan [a] , in British Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories. It also operates an Apple retailer called iQ.
SandpiperCI was formed on 27 June 2007, after its predecessor CI Traders was sold to a private equity consortium comprising Duke Street Capital and Europa Capital for £260 million. [1] CI Traders was formed in 2002 out of a merger between Le Riches Stores and the Ann Street Group. [2] In 2016, the company ownership reverted to a Channel Islands consortium.
SandpiperCI consists of wholly owned operations trading as Checkers Xpress, Wine Warehouse, Le Cocq's Stores, Richards Newsagents & Post Office, The Gibraltar Bakery, and Liberty Wharf. Plus a number of other franchises: Marks & Spencer, Morrisons Daily, Iceland, Costa Coffee, Hotel Chocolat, Crew Clothing, Card Factory, iQ (an Apple reseller), [3] Matalan, and Burger King.
In January 2016, SandpiperCI announced a deal with Burger King to operate restaurants in the Channel Islands. The 60-seater restaurant at 41 The Parade, St Helier.
In 2019, SandpiperCI opened up three Card Factory stores in Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man.
Checkers was a small supermarket chain in the Channel Islands, which was operated by SandpiperCI. It was sold in 2011 to Waitrose. In 2017, SandpiperCI acquired the Costcutter stores which were then converted into Food Halls and Checkers Xpress. Checkers Xpress is SandpiperCI's wholly-owned convenience and forecourt retailer with seven stores at key locations in both Jersey and Guernsey.
SandpiperCI opened their first Costa Coffee in Jersey in 2008. They now operate a total of nine stores across Jersey, Guernsey, and Gibraltar.
In January 2013, SandpiperCI acquired and opened Crew Clothing in St Helier, Jersey, followed by a 2nd store in Guernsey.
SandpiperCI acquired and opened Hotel Chocolat in 2011. They now operate 3 stores across Jersey, Guernsey, and Gibraltar.
SandpiperCI opened their first Iceland store in Georgetown, Jersey in 2008. Since then, they have opened a further nine Iceland stores; five in Jersey along with four in Guernsey.
SandpiperCI acquired the iQ franchise in Jersey and Guernsey in 2017 and opened a further store in the Isle of Man in 2020. They are the only Apple Premium Reseller in the Channel Islands and Isle of Man.
Le Cocq's Stores were founded in Alderney in 1860 [4] and were bought by SandpiperCI in September 2020. The chain is currently made up of two shops based in Le Huret, [5] [6] and Braye Harbour (known as Freezer Centre at The Cuttings).
In 2018, SandpiperCI purchased Liberty Wharf shopping centre in St Helier, Jersey. Liberty Wharf is a shopping centre housed in a restored Victorian abattoir.
The Marks & Spencer franchise has been operating for at least 50 years.[ citation needed ]
SandpiperCI acquired the Matalan franchise and opened its first stores in Liberty Wharf, Jersey, and St Martins, Guernsey, in March 2021.
In February 2018, the British supermarket chain, Morrisons, announced a new wholesale supply initiative with SandpiperCI, which included a number of their 43 stores being re-branded as "Morrisons Daily" and selling Morrisons' own-brand products. [7] By 2022, SandpiperCI had converted 19 of their stores in the Channel Islands [8] to the Morrisons Daily format, including the former Benest's of Millbrook store at Lisbon House, which was run by the Benest family for more than 100 years. [9] [10] [11]
SandpiperCI acquired Richards Newsagents & Post Office in Alderney in 2022.
The Gibraltar Bakery [12] is a bakery and coffee shop located at Grand Casemates Square, Gibraltar serving pastries, croissants, and cakes. The Gibraltar Bakery was formally run as a franchise of The Cornish Bakery, [13] [14] a British chain founded in 1994 as Pasty Presto, which has more than 30 outlets in the UK. [15]
Since 1995, SandpiperCI operates the largest off-license chain in the islands under the name of Wine Warehouse with 14 stores in Jersey and five located in Guernsey. The majority of Wine Warehouses can be found as sections within their other branded grocery stores, but separate stand-alone Wine Warehouses can be found at Five Oaks in St Saviour [16] and next to Morrisons Daily Benest store at Lisbon House in Millbrook. [17]
MMD Shipping Services, a Portsmouth-based business that specialises in stevedoring, warehousing and distribution services, publishing, brewing, baking, and Channel Rentals (company and residential technology hire) figure amongst the group's other activities. These divisions are now run separately.
The property division (formally COMPROP) is responsible for the acquisition and development of commercial and residential property which is then sold or retained for letting.
In October 2010 it was announced that contracts had been exchanged for the sale of the three major Checkers supermarkets, at Redhouse's and Rue des Pres in Jersey and Admiral Park in Guernsey, to Waitrose. [18] The deal was subject, amongst other things, to the approval of the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Between 2005 and 2011, CI Traders/ Sandpiper CI operated the Safeway stores in Guernsey and Jersey. When Safeway was bought by Morrisons, the decision was made to sell the Safeway Channel Islands stores, where the stores joined SandpiperCI until they were purchased by Waitrose and converted.
CI Hospitality operates in excess of 80 pubs across the islands. The hospitality division is now run separately as Liberation Group.
A foodservice wholesale and distribution business, Cimandis, was sold to Bidvest 3663 in 2015. [19] As of 2019 [update] , the business continues to be branded Cimandis Foodservice. [20]
In 2013, SandpiperCI operated two Gourmet Burger Kitchen restaurants in Guernsey and Jersey.
L'Abeille, a French soft drinks manufacturer based in Nantes, was bought by a Jersey brewer in 1989 and merged to form Channel Islands Traders in 2002. The business was sold in 2009. [21]
In 2014, Sandpiper started its Pet and Home Discount Centre branded 'shop-in-shops'. Three stores opened in Jersey, and one opened in Guernsey. All stores quietly closed the same year. The 'shop-in-shop' areas that Pet and Home Discount Centre took up now house Checkers Xpress, Iceland, and Wine Warehouse stores.
The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, consisting of Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm and some smaller islands. Historically, they are the remnants of the Duchy of Normandy. Although they are not part of the United Kingdom, the UK is responsible for the defence and international relations of the islands as it is for the other Crown Dependency, the Isle of Man, and the British Overseas Territories. The Crown Dependencies are neither members of the Commonwealth of Nations, nor part of the European Union. They have a total population of about 171,916, and the bailiwicks' capitals, Saint Helier and Saint Peter Port, have populations of 33,500 and 18,207 respectively.
Safeway Limited is a British groceries brand, and former chain of supermarkets and convenience shops. The British Safeway was founded in 1962 by the American Safeway Inc., before being sold to Argyll Foods in 1987. It was later listed on the London Stock Exchange. It was purchased by Morrisons in March 2004. Most of its 479 shops were rebranded as Morrisons, with others being sold. Safeway-branded shops disappeared from the United Kingdom on 24 November 2005.
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Alderney is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is 3 miles (5 km) long and 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) wide.
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Iceland Foods Limited, trading as Iceland, is a British supermarket chain headquartered in Deeside, Wales. It mainly sells frozen foods, including prepared meals and vegetables, alongside non-frozen grocery items such as produce, meat, dairy and dry goods. The company also operates a chain of shops called The Food Warehouse.
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Price Rite is a chain of supermarkets found in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Based in Keasbey, New Jersey, Price Rite is owned by New Jersey–based Wakefern Food Corporation, the cooperative behind ShopRite Supermarkets, Dearborn Market, and The Fresh Grocer. Prior to 2014, Wakefern owned and operated all Price Rite stores.
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Blue Islands Limited is a regional airline of the Channel Islands. Its head office is in Forest, Guernsey, and its registered office is in Saint Anne, Alderney. It operates scheduled services from and within the Channel Islands to the United Kingdom and Europe. Its main bases of operation are Guernsey Airport and Jersey Airport.
Alderney Airport is the only airport on the island of Alderney, Guernsey. Built in 1935, Alderney Airport was the first airport in the Channel Islands. Located on the Blaye, it is the closest Channel Island airport to the south coast of England and the coast of France. Its facilities include a hangar, the Airport Fire Station, and avgas refuelling.
The Channel Islands' Co-operative Society is a long-established consumer co-operative with stores in the Channel Islands. Its head office is located in Saint Helier in Jersey.
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The Channel Islands are a group of islands off the coast of France. The largest island is Jersey, followed by Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and a number of smaller islands, islets and rocky outcrops. The islands were separated from mainland Europe with rising sea levels in the Neolithic period; thereafter maritime activity commenced.
Archaeology is promoted in Jersey by the Société Jersiaise and by Jersey Heritage. Promotion in the Bailiwick of Guernsey being undertaken by La Société Guernesiaise, Guernsey Museums, the Alderney Society with World War II work also undertaken by Festung Guernsey.