Somerfield is a chain of small to medium-sized supermarkets operating in the United Kingdom. Operating as Somerfield Stores Ltd, the company is the sixth largest food retailer in the United Kingdom as of 2007, according to TNS Worldpanel. It is part of Somerfield Ltd, formerly Somerfield plc, which also included the Kwik Save chain of discount food stores until February 2006. It is based in Bristol. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... This is a copyrighted and/or trademarked logo. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... This article is about the English city. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... A Chairman is the presiding officer of a meeting, organization, committee, or other deliberative body. ... Chief Executive may refer to: Chief Executive of Hong Kong Chief Executive of Macau Chief Executive Officer This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Drawing of a self-service store. ... For the tax agency in Ireland of the same name, see Revenue Commissioners. ... This article is about work. ... Look up slogan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A website (alternatively, Web site or web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that is hosted on one or several Web server(s), usually accessible via the Internet, cell phone or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML... Drawing of a self-service store. ... TNS Worldpanel is a division of the United Kingdom based global market information group TNS, which analyses the British grocery sector. ... Kwik Save was a discount supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. ... Media:Example. ... This article is about the English city. ...

Overview

Somerfield is the sixth[1] largest food retailer in the UK with 977 stores (as of January 2007), following the sale of the Kwik Save unit and the closure or sale of unprofitable stores. January 2007 is the first month of that year. ...

Somerfield's self-declared niche is to "be the leading small format retailer in the UK". For the 52 weeks ended 30 April 2005 Somerfield Group's turnover was £4.676 billion. Profit was £60.9 million before tax, and due to a tax credit it was £62.9 million after tax. These profits were up about a third on the previous year; the group has had very narrow profit margins for a number of years.

The five larger retailers (in decending order of size) are Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury's, Morrisons and Co-operative Group. The top four are the only ones that operate full size superstores, while the Co-op has become the largest community retailer. At one point in early 2007, Somerfield was also briefly surpassed in size by Waitrose. , For other uses, see Tesco (disambiguation). ... This article is about the supermarket chain. ... This article is about the supermarket business. ... For other uses, see Morrison. ... It has been suggested that Co-op (supermarket) be merged into this article or section. ... It has been suggested that Co-op (supermarket) be merged into this article or section. ... Waitrose is a British supermarket chain owned by the John Lewis Partnership, with 184 branches (November 2006). ...

Somerfield, in a recent staff briefing, declared its mission statement to be "become Britain's favourite local grocery store". This is a downscale from the previous aim to become the leading supermarket.

Somerfield's Gorleston store employs Tony King who's frequent outbursts of "Acid Ahhhhhhh" and "Neiiiiiiil Sibley" keep the employees entertained.

History

Somerfield's origins are traced back to 1875 when a small family grocery store was opened in Bristol by J H Mills. By 1900 it had grown to a chain of 12 stores. In 1950 the fourteen stores were renamed "Gateway" when Bristol finance house Tyndall took a majority shareholding. The new name was chosen due to the company's home town being the 'gateway to the West Country'. In 1977 Gateway was taken over by Linfood Holdings Group and combined with Linfood's 'Frank Dee' supermarket chain to create a group with over 100 stores, with the Frank Dee stores being rebranded as "Gateway" - a move which was completed by 1983 when the group was renamed "The Dee Corporation". 1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... This article is about the English city. ... Äž: For the film, see: 1900 (film). ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The West Country is an informal term for the area of south-western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ...

Between 1983 and 1987 a number of acquisitions and mergers were made, adding Keymarkets, Lennons, International Stores, Fine Fare and the UK operations of Carrefour to the group - all rebranded under the Gateway name. In 1988 the group was renamed "The Gateway Corporation" and a year later, was bought out by Isoceles plc, a private consortium. Consequently many of the larger superstores were sold to ASDA. In the 1990s, after falling sales and a poor reputation, the Gateway Corporation almost collapsed. Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... Fine Fare was the name of a chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom until the mid-1980s. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is about the supermarket chain. ...

A decision was taken to rebrand the company's operations as Somerfield after a successful pilot scheme in 1990 and the company then built its success upon the new brand. A small number of stores were also relaunched under a new Food Giant discount brand, with the first store opening in 1991. Somerfield owned 24-7, the failed home delivery business. The name of the holding company Isoceles plc was changed to Somerfield plc around this time. Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ...

Kwik Save takeover

In 1998 the company took over the rival Kwik Save chain, with the remaining Food Giant stores being rebranded under that name. Kwik Save had over-expanded with a badly focused portfolio of stores, many in poorer areas, and the company was in a worse state than Somerfield's management had realised. Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... Kwik Save was a discount supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. ...

The original plan was to transfer all Kwik Save stores to the Somerfield fascia, but it quickly became clear that many outlets were not suitable for conversion, either due to size or location. Also, the downmarket wooden shelving and poor quality fittings used by Kwik Save meant that every conversion required a full refurbishment of the store - Simply changing the signage and uniforms would have risked dragging the carefully developed Somerfield brand downmarket. Instead, the larger Kwik Save stores were converted, some were sold or closed and the chain became a trading division of Somerfield Stores Ltd, sharing its supply chain and back office systems with Somerfield. For some years, the own-brand products in Kwik Save stores were Somerfield, although this policy was reversed once it was decided to keep the brand. Downmarket products are goods targeted at lower-income consumers. ...

Sale of Superstores

The core chain began to divest its superstore portfolio in 1999 (including many of the re-branded Food Giant stores) and now focuses on small to medium sized stores on high streets and in local shopping centres. This article is about the year. ...

New formats

Somerfield has changed its logo from a rectangular shape to a more contemporary design and opened a number of store formats, such as Somerfield 'Essentials' and Somerfield 'Market Fresh'. It has further changed its brand image by introducing newer own-brand lines such as "Best Ever", "Healthy Choice", and a new advertising strapline: "giving you what you want". A low-price own brand label called 'Simply Value' has also been introduced to compete with other low cost own brand products such as Tesco Value.

In August 2006, around 50 in-store delicatessen counters were closed as they had not been profitable. This article is about food stores. ...

Safeway Compact takeover

In October 2004, Somerfield acquired 114 Safeway Compact stores from Morrisons, which were subsequently re-branded under the Somerfield name. This deal was referred to the Competition Commission, which announced on July 27, 2005 that 14 of the stores might need to be divested in order to satisfy concerns over localised monopolies. A Safeway supermarket in Camberwell, South East London, in 2003 Safeway was a chain of 479 supermarkets and convenience stores in the UK that is now part of Wm Morrison Supermarkets. ... For other uses, see Morrison. ... The Competition Commission is an independent body responsible for investigating mergers, market shares and conditions and the regulation of UK companies. ... is the 208th day of the year (209th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

After completing its investigation, the Commission instructed Somerfield to sell 12 stores. In September 2005, Somerfield announced its intention to appeal against the decision, a process delayed by a takeover bid for the chain (see below). The Competition Appeal Tribunal upheld the Commission's decision in February 2006: [2]. Somerfield therefore had to proceed with sale of the 12 stores. However, the sale of Kwik Save in February 2006 is likely to have removed the potential clashes between some of the offending stores. Kwik Save was a discount supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. ... Media:Example. ...

Somerfield takeover

Somerfield was subject to takeover speculation from 2003 onwards, a substantial part of the group's appeal to bidders lying in the value of its property portfolio rather than its trading operations, as this offered the potential to leverage its financing after a takeover.

Retail entrepreneurs John Lovering and Bob Mackenzie made two failed bids in 2003. In 2005, Icelandic venture capital group Baugur made an approach, while United Co-operatives and London & Regional Properties also expressed an interest, but both groups dropped out of the running. In October 2005 Somerfield's board accepted a bid of around £1.1 billion from a consortium of buyers. This was subject to shareholder approval, but was not referred to the Competition Commission as the buyer was not another UK retailer. Venture capital is a general term to describe financing for startup and early stage businesses as well as businesses in turn around situations. ... Baugur Group is an Icelandic investment company. ... United Co-operatives, or simply United Co-op, is the largest regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. ... The Competition Commission is an independent body responsible for investigating mergers, market shares and conditions and the regulation of UK companies. ...

Somerfield plc was acquired by the consortium consisting of Apax Partners Worldwide LLP, Barclays Capital and the Tchenguiz Family Trust with effect from 21 December 2005, when the name of the group changed to Somerfield Ltd. Apax Partners is a private equity and venture capital firm based in the United Kingdom which operates in Hong Kong, China, India, United Kingdom, United States, Europe, and Israel. ...

The new owners have also made dramatic changes to operations at Somerfield. Their aim was to simplify the business and attract new customers. The first move was the abrupt end of the SaverCard scheme in May 2006 with promotional deals becoming available to all customers. To compensate, prices were slashed on "The Core 500" - the 500 best-selling product lines - often significantly undercutting other supermarkets. Bold new point-of-sale was introduced to make promotions and price cuts more visible to customers. There is also a significant range review in progress which will see simplification and the removal of poorly-selling lines. Somerfield's three own-label brands have also been overhauled; the budget "Makes Sense" range has become "Simply Value", the low calories "Good Intentions" range has become "Healthy Choice", and the premium "So Good" range has become "Best Ever!".

Kwik Save sale

In 2005, Somerfield re-branded half of Kwik Save's Scottish stores under its own name and closed the remainder, thus removing the brand from the marketplace north of the border. Some other stores, such as Buxton and Balham, were sold to Waitrose and other retailers. This article is about the country. ... Waitrose is a British supermarket chain owned by the John Lewis Partnership, with 184 branches (November 2006). ...

After the group was taken over, it was reported that the new owners found the Kwik Save chain was losing £40m per year, effectively cancelling out around 40% of the profits generated by the Somerfield division. As a result, it sped up the conversion of stores from Kwik Save to Somerfield. On February 27, 2006, Somerfield Stores Ltd sold the Kwik Save brand and 171 stores to BTTF, an investment vehicle headed by Paul Niklas, for an undisclosed sum[3]. Somerfield re-branded the 102 Kwik Save sites it has retained under its own name and a further 77 stores were sold to other retailers, thought to include Netto and Aldi. Somerfield is now focused on a single brand. Kwik Save was a discount supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. ... is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Back to the Future is an American adventure-comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis and released in 1985. ... A collective investment scheme is a way of investing money with other people to participate in a wider range of investments than may be feasible for an individual investor and to share the costs of doing so. ... For other supermarket chains with the same name, see Netto (Les Mousquetaires) and Netto Marken-Discount. ...  , short for ALbrecht DIscount, is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany and one of the largest retail chains worldwide. ...

Subsequent to the initial sale, a further nineteen Kwik Save stores were acquired by BTTF, including some of those included in the Competition Commission investigation ruling into the Safeway Compact takeover. The Competition Commission is an independent body responsible for investigating mergers, market shares and conditions and the regulation of UK companies. ... A Safeway supermarket in Camberwell, South East London, in 2003 Safeway was a chain of 479 supermarkets and convenience stores in the UK that is now part of Wm Morrison Supermarkets. ...

In March 2007, it was announced that Somerfield was to drop the "Market Fresh" format and concentrate upon the single Somerfield format.

Store rationalisation

In August 2006 a wave of store closures were announced as Somerfield's new owners continued their restructuring activity. Some of these were core Somerfield stores that were performing poorly, but most were converted Kwik Save sites that hadn't proved successful under the new fascia. A number were among 102 stores that were selected for conversion following the Kwik Save sale in February 2006, although most had only undergone a partial conversion with temporary signage and point of sale. These had been retained on a trial basis and a sales performance had been closely observed in the period since conversion. August 2006 is the eighth month of that year, and has yet to occur. ...

Some stores were sold to other groups, including Kwik Save and Sainsbury's, which bought 12 with an average size of 11,000 sq ft, while others are being closed completely. This was done on a local, store by store basis and there was no official announcement of the process as an integrated restructuring programme.

With unprofitable branches closed or sold, attention has turned to revitalising the remaining store estate. Project Evolution began with eight trial stores in June 2006 and is now being rolled out very quickly across the store estate. The project plans to improve stores by altering merchandise layouts, removing weak product lines and adding hundreds of new products to each store. Accessibility is also improved in Evolution stores through lower top-shelf heights and clearer category signage. Stores are also being redecorated with new external signage and branding as well as interior improvements. In the future, the Market Fresh and Essentials formats will be dropped and all stores will be branded simply as Somerfield.

As part of this process, Somerfield is now in the process of integrating its co-branded Texaco and Jet forecourts. This will see the oil company signage dropped, to be replaced by a Somerfield branded food and fuel offering. This process should be complete by the end of the 2007/2008 financial year. The oil industry is a type of industry which brings petroleum to a market. ...

In October 2006, it was revealed that 40 Somerfield stores, including many retained Kwik Save branches, had been sold to Kwik Save. These stores were mainly converted Kwik Save stores that were performing finacially badly.[4] October 2006 is the tenth month of that year and has yet to occur. ...

In November 2006, the company also sold a further 11 stores to Marks & Spencer to trade under the M&S Simply Food brand. These included stores in Blackheath, London, Petersfield Broughty Ferry in Dundee and Alton in Hampshire 67 die and about 300,000 people are affected by floods in Ethiopias Somali Region of Ogaden after the Shabelle River bursts its banks. ... Marks & Spencer (M&S) is a British retailer, with 760 stores in more than 30 countries around the world. ... Blackheath is a suburb of London, divided between the London Borough of Lewisham and the London Borough of Greenwich. ... Petersfield is a market town in the English county of Hampshire, situated on the northern border of the South Downs. ... Broughty Ferry (Brochtie in Scots) is a suburb on the eastern edge of the City of Dundee, situated on the shore of the Firth of Tay in eastern Scotland. ... For other uses, see Dundee (disambiguation). ... Statistics Population: 16,584 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: SU716394 Administration District: East Hampshire Shire county: Hampshire Region: South East England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Hampshire Historic county: Hampshire Services Police force: Hampshire Constabulary Ambulance: South Central Post office and telephone Post town: GUILDFORD... For other uses, see Hampshire (disambiguation). ...

Criticisms

Somerfield has often been criticised for neglecting its stores, allowing them to become run-down. While the refurbished, new format stores are generally attractive and on a par with those of rivals, many stores have not been refurbished since they were built.^{[citation needed]} The company has also been alleged to have"given up on ethics" after withdrawing from a voluntary ethical trading agreement.

Staffing policy

Since being taken over Somerfield has made moves to change its 16 different sets of terms and conditions of employment (a result of successive takeovers) to just one. As well as new terms and conditions, staffing structures are also set to be optimised to remove unnecessary positions and create new ones where required. The broad aim is to cull excess supervisory and management roles to create room within budgets for more store staff.

Somerfield have also made moves to organise staff according to the needs of the business. New Workforce Management systems monitor staff working hours and the system is currently being upgraded to provide automated schedules which provide staff-cover for stores with the philosophy, "Right people, right place, right time, right skills".

Charity of the year

Somerfield employees vote for a charity to support every year. Recent beneficiaries have included:

• 2007-8 Macmillan Cancer Support
• 2005-6 Association of Children's Hospices
• 2003-4 Muscular Dystrophy Campaign
• 2002-3 Meningitis Trust

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Macmillan Cancer Support is one of the largest British charities and provides free care and support to people affected by cancer. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Palliative care. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Muscular Dystrophy Campaign is a British medical research charity dedicated to the curing of the muscular dystrophy. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... Meningitis is the inflammation of the protective membranes covering the central nervous system, known collectively as the meninges. ...

References in popular culture

The branch of Somerfield in Wells, Somerset, England had featured prominently in the film Hot Fuzz and Somerfield branding was clearly visible. In the film the manager of the supermarket Simon Skinner played by Timothy Dalton plays a charming but sinister individual. The role the supermarket plays in the film includes a gun battle scene between police and staff members in full Somerfield uniforms. The reason the store was chosen was due to the director of the film Edgar Wright having formerly been a shelf stacker at the store. For other uses, see Wells (disambiguation). ... This article is about the county of Somerset in England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Hot Fuzz is a 2007 British police action comedy film written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright and starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. ... Timothy Peter Dalton (born March 21, 1946[1]) is an English actor of stage and screen, best known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989) and in his roles in Shakespearean related films and plays. ... Edgar Wright at Comic Con in San Diego Edgar Wright (born 18 April 1974 in Poole, Dorset) is an English film and television director. ...

External links

• Somerfield Ltd - Corporate information
• Somerfield Ltd history
• Somerfield.co.uk - Information for shoppers
• Company press release - Somerfield acquires 114 Safeway compact stores
• Independent.co.uk - Somerfield to take over small Safeway stores
• BBC report on Somerfield's board's acceptance of the takeover (14 Oct 2005)
• BBC report on the finalisation of the takeover (21 December 2005)
• Somerfield Ltd press release announcing sale of Kwik Save (27 February 2005)