A number of Costcutter retailers in Northern Ireland have left the group and signed up with Nisa.

The latest to convert is Phillip O’Neill’s store in Portglenone, which is now trading under the Nisa Extra banner. The store was the subject of a hosted visit by P&H and Costcutter for the trade press last year.

Nisa claims that 17 former Costcutter stores, representing 20% of the group’s business in Northern Ireland, have now switched groups. The province was the first territory to migrate to the new supply arrangement with P&H last April, but many retailers are thought to have been holding out for new year loyalty bonuses before exiting.

Other stores to have left the group include Walter and Gillian Miller’s village store in Ahoghill, and Finlay and Kenneth Robinson’s supermarket in Ballymena.

Delivery problems continue to plague the new buy and supply arrangement across the UK. Rathan Pakeerathan, a Costcutter retailer in Oxford, contacted the C-Store office to say that of his latest order of just over 100 cases, 57 were missing and of those which did arrive several were out of date.

“It’s been going on like this for too long,” he said. “We have been with Costcutter for 10 years and are on special measures for our deliveries, but it’s not getting any better. I’m thinking of moving in a different direction,” he said.

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