Top Northern Irish food retailer in profits rise

The Henderson Group, a leading Northern Irish food retailer and foodservice business, has reported an 11 per cent jump in pre-tax profits to nearly £24 million last year.

Based at Newtownabbey in county Antrim, the group, which owns the Spar, Eurospar and Vivo retail brands in Northern Ireland, saw turnover rise by six per cent to £699 million in 2016.

The group is a longstanding supporter of locally sourced food and drink and has launched successful brands such as The Kitchen Range from local ingredients. It also developed the 'Enjoy Local' marketing campaign last year as part of its support for Year of Food and Drink.

The Henderson Group, which dates from 1897, has a portfolio of business interests which span retail, property and foodservice companies all of which operate under the Henderson name.

It strengthened its position despite what it described as "the competitive pressures within the grocery and food service sectors" from rising inflation.

"Strong like-for-like growth across all subsidiaries, high retention rates of existing retailers, recruitment of new retailers, coupled with significant investment by the group, directly within our company owned stores as well as with its retail partners, has delivered additional sales of £40 million," chief financial officer Ron Whitten said.

Grocery sales were 3.5 per cent stronger on a like-for-like basis while its foodservice division reported 11 per cent growth.