Paul Hill speaks to John Kinney, managing director of Unitas
PH: What has been your most significant achievement over the past 12 months?
JK: Our members and supplier partners have seen how Unitas Wholesale’s unrivalled scale and commitment to providing a Fitter, Fairer and Faster service is delivering incremental benefits for wholesalers, and measurable return on investment for suppliers.
With no other shareholders or directors taking dividends, and no requirement for the central operation to build its bank balance year on year, we were able to increase the revenue returned to members by 17%, and by 35% over the past five years.
That’s in addition to more than £3m in cost savings through our Unitas Procurement scheme for business consumables, and a significant cashflow boost for members from faster turnaround of invoices and retro payments.
Suppliers have also reaped the rewards of this partnership, with Unitas members outperforming the total retail market in impulse, soft drinks, confectionery, non-edible grocery, tobacco alternatives and frozen during 2024. This is just one of the reasons that suppliers voted us their number-one retail wholesaler in the 2025 Advantage Report.
Unitas also had a record number of suppliers exhibiting at our trade show, connect25, and attending our conference in Portugal, which provided the perfect platform for insight, knowledge sharing and relationship building.
What is your unique selling point?
Representing more than a quarter of the entire wholesale sector, Unitas members offer brand owners incredible reach into more than 180,000 retail, foodservice and on-trade customers.
Their combined turnover is more than twice that of any other buying group, and more than three times in retail. Thirteen of our members feature in The Grocer magazine’s Big 30 list of the UK’s leading wholesalers.
We leverage this unbeatable buying power to offer members the best trading terms and conditions available and, unlike other buying groups, every penny of those centrally-negotiated terms goes directly to wholesaler members, who are Unitas’ sole owners.
How have you expanded and attracted new members over the past 12 months?
Our focus is on delivering a Fitter, Fairer, Faster service for our existing members. This year we have introduced a new £2m incentive scheme for members who are active in our promotional schemes and Support Centre initiatives. We think it is fair that those who contribute most to the group receive the most from it.
Rewarding members for their participation works for suppliers, too, as it means Unitas is actively incentivising greater compliance in promotions and product launches.
What are your plans to help members over the next 12 months?
We are building on the added value our Support Centre provides through promotional programmes. Our retail and foodservice promotions are built around key events in the calendar, all backed with huge support and innovation from suppliers. Promotional activity is publicised through depot, store, print and online materials, aimed at both customers and consumers.
We also provide depot and store merchandising materials, support for retailers and caterers, in addition to consumer-facing leaflets. We’re helping members introduce digital screens into depots to spotlight their partnerships with suppliers.
In the coming months, we will be revamping the Plan for Profit resource for retailers and expanding our own-brand range to give consumers that all-important value alternative to mainstream brands. Our Meet the Member events in June (on-trade) and July (foodservice) will give suppliers dedicated access to our wholesalers.
