Costcutter is continuing to “explore all possible opportunities” over its future supply arrangements, more than two months after promising a formal announcement to its members.
The latest company to be linked with Costcutter is Bestway, with the two firms in discussions about a potential supply deal or even a stronger strategic partnership.
Bestway is known to be seeking increased scale in the wake of the Booker-Tesco merger announcement, while Costcutter issued a letter to its members in August saying that the group had some “exciting opportunities on the table” about collaboration.
A spokeswoman told C-Store today: “When we wrote to our retailers in late August to update them on discussions we are having in the market, we fully expected this to fuel rumour and speculation.
“However, while we continue to explore all possible opportunities we will not be making any response until we are ready to make an announcement to our retailers.”
Sir Michael Bibby, managing director of parent company Bibby Line Group, wrote in the letter to retailers: “There are exciting opportunities on the table right now which mean that Darcy [Willson-Rymer, Costcutter CEO] and I hope and expect to be able to make a formal announcement soon. Due to confidentiality agreements we are unable to give a running commentary on progress until any changes are confirmed.”
David Wyatt, of Costcutter service station, Copthorne, West Sussex, said: “We definitely need a new arrangement as the current one doesn’t feel like it’s working for anybody! There’s significant scope to improve but at the very least we need a range that can really stand up to the competition.”
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