In addition, the wholesaler agreed more than 330 supplier agreements in the year.
Managing director, Darren Goldney, said: “Ultimately while scale and sales moving in a positive direction is hugely encouraging, we are equally excited about the platforms we are building for getting better in the future. Our ‘new world’ is about getting bigger, primarily through being better.
“We have had a number of first year successes that have occurred outside of the growth figures above, including initiatives such as Picture Portal, the execution platform that have been developed for both business-to-business and business-to-consumer promotions. Our accelerated core range compliance programmes, such as Plan For Profit, have generated more than 90% member compliance, together with approximately 50,000 pieces of point of sale being sited on a quarterly basis.”
The Unitas retail promotional programme now supports around 4,000 stores across symbol and retail club. Additionally, more than 9,000 independent retailers are engaging with the Plan for Profit digital platform across web and app.
The wholesaler recently launched the Unitas Data Service, together with concepts such Brand Box, the pilot programme for NPD providing supplier partners with access to 1,000 stores at launch.
Unitas had to cancel its trade show due to the developing situation with the Coronavirus, but is running a ‘virtual trade show’ this week (16-20 March) when members will be able to take advantage of the deals that they would have been exposed to at the event. The company has arranged for members to receive the deals online and for the member/supplier network to have telephone discussions, with an expected 1,000-plus conversations taking place. “While it may not be the traditional trade show our delegates were expecting, it’s the next best thing and a living example of the efficiency that brings our stakeholders together,” Goldney added.
