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ABOUT US
trading divisions 105 years old
A.F. Blakemore was founded in 1917 by Arthur and Harriet Blakemore in Wolverhampton and has grown to become one of the UK’s largest privately owned family businesses. Click here to find out more about the history of the Blakemore brand. A.F. Blakemore’s success has been built upon a distinct culture focused upon positive and friendly relations with staff, customers and the communities it serves. The Blakemore Way is a means to define this culture and ensure that the longstanding values of the Blakemore family continue to drive the company’s growth for the next century. The Blakemore Way underpins A.F. Blakemore’s approach to business and puts into words what the company stands for and why it exists.
Logistics Blakemore Logistics distributes to more than 900 SPAR stores across England and Wales and supports the distribution needs of the A.F. Blakemore group. Our Logistics division occupies warehousing across 7 sites, 2 of which are owned by the group on a freehold basis. Our operations within these buildings serve customers across our Blakemore Retail own store estate (263), Blakemore Trade Partners SPAR stores, operated by independent retailers (650), as well as Wholesale Distribution, Food Service and Fresh Foods divisions. Whilst our SPAR trading area is geographically localised, our Wholesale Distribution, Food Service and Fresh Foods divisions operate nationally.
Blakemore Retail With more than 5,000 employees and 263 SPAR stores located across England and Wales, Blakemore Retail is the largest independent convenience store operator in the UK. Also under our remit is 15 Philpotts Sandwich Shops, 23 Greggs and 50 Subway franchises. We also operate 115 Post Offices which includes 41 Main Offices (traditional fortress counters) and 74 Local/Local Plus counters where customers are served at our normal SPAR service points. Of the 263 SPAR stores operated by Blakemore Retail the group owns the freehold of 63 stores with an OPCO/PROPCO structure in place between Blakemore Property Ltd and AF Blakemore and Son Ltd. The landlords across our leasehold properties range from large property investors/institutions to single store landlords who have often historically operated the convenience store business at the site. We plan to expand the Blakemore Retail store portfolio by way of the acquisition of existing business and new to market sites by 25 new sites per year.
7,000 colleagues £1.1 billion
annual sales
Our Purpose To grow a family business in ways that are profitable and sustainable for the benefit of colleagues, customers and communities
Our Values:
We build a better future. We strive to create a better place for the next generation. By thinking of tomorrow but acting today. We are rooted in our communities and the environment and believe passionately about playing our part in making them sustainable. We achieve our goals together. Our strength comes from our collective success. We invest in every person and partnership, nurturing talent, and equipping our teams with the skills they need to flourish. While our business strategies and operations must change constantly in response to the changing world, our Purpose and Values will remain a constant.
We are one inclusive team. Our people are our strength, everyone is a key part of the team. We listen and support. We treat each other with kindness, fairness, empathy and respect, and celebrate not just what we have in common, but our differences too. We behave with honesty and integrity. We believe honesty and integrity are everything. We say what we mean and do what we say. We're authentic and open. We're true to our word with our colleagues, our customers and our partners. We strive for excellence. We love to do better both for our customers and for our people. Even the things that work well, we seek to improve because we’re passionate about service, innovation and results. We love a challenge.
Blakemore Trade Partners Blakemore Trade Partners supports the independent SPAR estate of A.F. Blakemore & Son Ltd. We have a ‘headlease’ property interest in 55 of the SPAR Convenience Stores operated by our trade partners these arrangements tie our partners to trading under the SPAR brand and purchasing the goods sold in them from AFB. We have plans to expand this by 20 sites per year by acquiring new sites in conjunction with our trade partners and entering into headlease arrangements with existing customers.
Blakemore Property Ltd Blakemore Property Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of AF Blakemore and Son Ltd and owns the groups freehold properties which are predominantly let back to the group on an institutional lease basis. Blakemore Property Ltd also act as a property developer completing new build schemes and conversions of existing buildings for operation by the Blakemore Group.
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