Member profile: Unitas – stronger together

‘Stronger together’ was both the overarching message at Unitas’s annual conference and day-to-day reality for the buying group. To find out more, Wholesale News caught up with trading director Cheryl Hope and Victoria Lockie as she settles into her new role as retail director

At the Unitas Wholesale annual conference, the leadership team shared ambitious plans as well as its most recent achievements, alongside the latest industry insight, all with the goal of further strengthening the relationships it has with its wholesale members and key suppliers.

With wholesale facing one of its toughest trading periods, the need to do things bolder and better was shared by managing director John Kinney in Portugal, underpinned by his pledge for the buying group to become even ‘fitter, fairer, faster’.

“Fitter, fairer, faster has been a mantra of the business for a while and we remain steadfast in our commitment to this,” says Cheryl (pictured top left). “We have had a period of change as people have transitioned in and out of the business, and we have used this time to re-examine our values to ensure that not only are we fit for purpose and perfectly positioned for the future but we are delivering what our members and supplier partners most need when they need it.

“By faster, we mean we endeavour to move with agility and speed in order to provide the best support for our members as well as an efficient and effective route to market for our suppliers. And we want to be faster in every way, from our financial processes, how we communicate with our members, being agile and responding quickly to changes in the marketplace to maximising sales in their depots.

“And fitter means that, as a Central Team we are fit for purpose for our members. I want to ensure we have the right resources and right capabilities to drive the very best benefits and promotions for our members, increasing their earnings and helping to reduce their operating costs. We pride ourselves on fairness, on being a great business partner to deal with, and a business that does what it says it will do, rewarding those members who participate and drive compliance in the initiatives we run.”

NEW ARRIVALS

As part of the recent changes at the buying group, ex-Nisa head of retail Victoria Lockie joined in September as retail director. A few weeks later, Nick Shaw joined the group as finance director, completing the new leadership team line-up alongside Hope and Kinney.

“This feels a pivotal moment,” says Cheryl, who joined Unitas as trading director in 2022. During that time she has been responsible for enhancing supplier relationships and delivering collaborative initiatives to grow member and supplier businesses.

“It really is a privilege to work with our incredible wholesale members and our brilliant suppliers to unlock sales opportunities,” she says. “I have an amazing team, and now we have Victoria and Nick on board, I just know we’re going to go from strength to strength.

“Victoria’s enthusiasm and energy is infectious and it was clear from her first day that we are all on the same page and we have a shared and powerful vision for the future of the group.

“We recognise that the wholesale sector is under pressure and we are committed and passionate about providing our members with the best possible systems, support and services to drive their businesses, and therefore the group as a whole, forward.”

In her first few weeks in the role, Victoria has barely had time to sit still. “With the conference, a raft of industry events and visiting as many members as I can, I think I’ve hit the ground running,” she smiles. “I’m taking the time to understand as many of our members’ businesses as I can so I can get under the skin of their wholesale and retail offer, in depot and their symbol store estates. I’m looking at every aspect of the business through a retail lens in order to grow our retail wholesale offer and capabilities in the best possible ways.

“I will be heading up the retail team, which is instrumental in the continued development of the Plan for Profit category management scheme. I’ll also be supporting the growth of our members’ symbol store development programmes, the group’s retail and wholesale promotional programmes, and the continued roll out of the Local Living own-brand range.

“Plus, I will be providing support for our retail wholesalers to improve the proposition and execution in depot, and supporting members to have the right products at the right price at the right time, executed well in depot and online so it actively engages retailers and drives sales and delivers ROI for our suppliers.

“One of my ongoing priorities will be to better understand the challenges faced by our supplier partners but also identify new opportunities to drive compliance and execution across the group. By talking with suppliers, we can understand their issues around NPD and compliance, and this will help us jointly shape activity in depot and in store.”

TOGETHER

A hefty to-do list then? “Yes definitely, but there’s more!” Victoria says. “I will be working with the wider Unitas team to drive forward the digital agenda to ensure our members and their retailers can access our industry-leading support in the ways that are most accessible and appropriate for them.”

Anything else? She laughs: “Actually, yes – I’ll be leading the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) agenda too as this is something I’ve always been passionate about. Ensuring an organisation’s culture is inclusive and welcoming for all and that people are supported to be themselves has never been more important. I’m looking forward to introducing a programme of events, such as lunch and learn sessions and new employee resource groups, to make a difference.”

Both Cheryl and Victoria are clearly committed to delivering against Unitas’s key pillars, one of which is value.

“Value will continue to play a huge role for wholesalers and retailers, so a strong value proposition is essential,” says Cheryl. “We also understand that our customers want quality, which is why we are so focused on ensuring the Local Living own-brand range is just right. Our members’ retail customers are relying on a high-quality value proposition and we have lots of new products close to launching that will deliver on both counts.”

Victoria agrees: “On the theme of value, we know our promotions need to pack a punch to deliver excellent margins, sales and footfall. So, another of my priorities is to ensure we utilise our scale as the UK’s largest wholesale buying group to access the leading suppliers to deliver really powerful deals.”

Whether it’s the importance of relationships, joined-up thinking or collaborative future plans, the Unitas leadership team is on the same page.

“Absolutely,” says Cheryl. “It’s an exciting time for us all, and for the group, so watch this space…”

Cheryl Hope conference FWD members John Kinney Local Living Nick Shaw Unitas Wholesale Victoria Lockie