SuperValu To Open 5 New Stores And Create 350 New Jobs in 2016

SuperValu, Ireland’s largest supermarket is to open five stores and create 350 new jobs this year in a €28 million investment. With sales totalling over €2.6 billion last year, SuperValu surpassed a 25% market share and their fresh food leadership strategy was a core driver in its performance last year.

Managing Director of SuperValu, Martin Kelleher said “We are pleased to announce that we have achieved a new sales milestone in what is a highly competitive marketplace. The fact that we are the largest grocery retailer in Ireland clearly illustrates that we have the best offer in the market, with consumers responding to our commitment to fresh food leadership and opting for locally-sourced, quality Irish food and in-store expertise.’’

Furthermore, SuperValu’s ascent continued as their online sales grew by 32% in the first six months of 2015 and website visits on mobile grew by 37%.

Feeding Ireland’s Future 2016

Excel Recruitment are delighted to be partaking in Feeding Ireland’s Future 2016. The initiative is facilitated by the ECR and takes place from February 29th to March 4th. The ‘Skills for Work week’ places young unemployed people aged 18-24 in skill centres across the country, equipping them with CV workshops, interview preparation, HR resources and first-hand experience on the retail industry in Ireland.

Some of the largest names throughout Ireland are taking place in Feeding Ireland’s Future 2016, now in its third year. This year Youthreach, the training and work experience programme run by the Department of Education and Skills, will provide skills sessions to early school leavers in 13 centres throughout the country.

Excel Recruitment are delighted to welcome in prospective jobseekers to our offices in the Skills to Work Week. Here we will show each participant the daily ins and outs of placing candidates in the best grocery retailers throughout Ireland, providing CV and interview advice, HR knowledge and the best in digital practices to all attendees.

The Feeding Ireland’s Future seminar launches on February 19th, with MD of Excel Recruitment Barry Whelan presenting to all those in attendance the importance of the programme and how it demonstrates collaborative leadership throughout the Irish Food industry.

SuperValu still top in Supermarket share.

 

 

Kantar Worldpanel have released the figures for the grocery market share for end of January 2016. In a reoccurring theme, SuperValu have topped the figures commanding the largest market share of Irish consumers. In an area of tiny margins, Dunnes Stores have gained .1% with SuperValu and Tesco dipping marginally.

Insights Director at Kantar Worldpanel Georgieann Harrington said ‘’ Consumers have been spending more on their grocery shopping than this time last year’’.

  • SuperValu remain in first place per market share, capturing 25% of the grocery market, with sales growth of 4.4%.
  • Tesco remain second with substantial sales growth of 1.1%. This accounts for the retail giant’s most positive performance in the Irish market since November 2012.
  • Dunnes enjoyed the strongest rate of growth of the top-three supermarkets with sales up 5.1% compared with last year.
  • Lidl are the big winners, seeing double-digit growth in their sales figures for the fourth consecutive quarter.

Kantar

Browse all Grocery Jobs with Excel Recruitment here.

Bank of Ireland Hotel Review 15/16

Bank of Ireland Business Banking released their 15/16 review and outlook for Irish Hotels, combining data from the CSO, Fáilte Ireland and Savills. Undoubtedly Irish Hospitality remains incredibly positive and proposed figures suggest it is likely to further grow in 2016. The report was led by Gerardo Larios Rizo, Head of Hospitality for Bank of Ireland. You can view the full report from Bank of Ireland, here.

 

Sample CV Template

Sample CV Template

Our consultants see CV’s every single day. Every hour actually. We had a chat around both our offices, both Retail and Hospitality and decided candidates would benefit from a sample CV. CV templates can and will differ on industries, but this standardised CV is applicable across the board when applying for Retail, Hospitality, Healthcare and most jobs.

Some general CV tips.

  • Word is generally a preferred format by recruitment agencies and employers in the above industries.
  • Attaching a PDF of your CV also is advised. (File > Export > Create PDF/ XPF )
  • Avoid over complicated templates, boxes and Excel sheets.
  • Personalise your CV/cover letter. While the majority of the content will stay the same, there is nothing more unprofessional when the same Cover Letter is send to multiple employers/agencies listing a different job than the one you actually applied for.

 

Sample CV Template

We see CV’s every single day. Every hour actually. We had a chat around the office and decided candidates would benefit from a sample CV with advice from all our consultants, their frustrations and what gets a CV noticed. CV templates differ on industries, this is a standardised CV that is suitable across the board when applying for Retail, Grocery, Fashion and Non-Food jobs.

Some general CV tips.

  • Word is generally a preferred format by recruitment agencies and employers in the above industries.
  • Attaching a PDF of your CV also is advised. (File > Export > Create PDF/ XPF )
  • Avoid over complicated templates, boxes and Excel sheets.
  • Personalise your CV/cover letter. While the majority of the content will stay the same, there is nothing more unprofessional when the same Cover Letter is send to multiple employers/agencies listing a different job than the one you actually applied for.

 

image (1)

Liffey Valley Plans Major Extension And Ice Rink

 

Liffey Valley have submitted an application for a major extension and an ice skating area. The shopping Centre in West Dublin, is seeking permission for an additional 60 shops, 1,800 parking spaces and a glazed canopy space. The application was submitted by Hines Ireland the current centre management and co-owner.

According to Hines the ice skating arena will be Olympic standard and capable of hosting live entertainment, ice hockey matches and competitions. Liffey Valley is undergoing a current extension phase that is due for completion on the west end of the shopping centre by the end of the year.

Brian Moran who is MD of Hines Ireland said “We are submitting the application now as a strategic forward planning initiative aimed at the sustainable development of Liffey Valley in line with future market needs. Customer spend and population growth will outstrip this, so we are making this application now as economic growth accelerates to avoid the kind of lack of supply we are currently seeing in office and residential markets.”

Image via The Irish Times.

Mercantile and Capitol Group Merge

Mercantile and Capital Bars will merge into one, forming the largest Hospitality grouping in Dublin. Their merge will see them renamed and branded under the ‘Mercantile Group’ employing a total of 600 people and generating annual revenues of €40 million. No jobs will be affected as a result and it is expected that a new venue will create 70 new jobs later this year.

The Mercantile Group will encompass numerous live venues and some of the more notable names in Dublin night-life. The George, Whelan’s, Café en Seine and The Mercantile will all be part of the new Hospitality super group. A new venue will open later this year on South William Street at The Powerscourt Townhouse, a strip that is hotly populated with mid-week and weekend customers.

The 12 bars is full that will fall under Mercantile Group remit are:

  • Whelans
  • The George
  • Soder & Ko
  • Pichet
  • Café en Seine
  • East side Tavern
  • The Green Hen
  • Howl at the Moon
  • Marcel’s
  • Opium
  • Pichet
  • New Venue (The Powerscourt Townhouse, South William Street – Spring 2016)

Checkout Conference 2016 // Takeaway Points

The 2016 Checkout Conference took place on Feb. 2nd in The Round Room of The Mansion House. The 2016 theme was ‘Think. Learn. Evolve’ with some notable industry professional speaking on the challenges and changes facing Irish Grocery Retail, with our MD Barry Whelan in attendance. There was some interesting observations from the top retail professionals, their plans for 2016 and how they envisage retail changing. Here is our take away points.

Nielsen

Julian Baldwin

Sales Effectiveness Director, Nielsen UK & Ireland.

The consumer wants personalisation. Targeting the consumer with personalised offers is a powerful way to drive sales. Since the recession the Irish consumer has traded down well beyond the European and global average. 51% in Ireland versus 31% in Europe.

Recommendations

  • Be shopper centric.
  • Prioritise personalisation.
  • Consider your online shopping experience.
  • Be nimble and build prototypes.

Heineken

Maggie Timoney

Managing Director, Heineken Ireland.

Maggie has been Managing Director for Heineken Ireland since 2013, having worked for the brand for 17 years. Maggie addressed the importance of acting quickly and the crux of her speech correlated closely with the Checkout Conference theme of Think, Learn, and Evolve. Timoney highlighted Orchard Thieves as an example, the highly successful Cider that went from idea to product launch in just six months.

Her summary:

  • Get your organisation ready.
  • Be responsible together.
  • Collaborate between supplier and retailer.
  • Know your consumer.

Maggie also showcased Heineken Ireland’s new ad aimed at curtailing heavy drinking and titled ‘Heineken | Moderate Drinkers Wanted’.

 

tesco

Andrew Yaxley

CEO, Tesco Ireland.

This was one of our favourites. Appointed Chief Executive of Tesco Ireland in 2015, Yaxley was previously Managing Director of Tesco’s London business. Yaxley gave a highly informative talk, addressing Tesco’s priorities, the key levers that influence these and how Tesco will change their customer offering to better reflect business.

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Tesco Priorities

  1. Regaining competitiveness by serving customers better.
  2. Protecting and strengthening the balance sheet by creating a more simple operating model
  3. Build trust and transparency by working better together.

They will concentrate on achieving these through concentrating on Customer, Product and Channel.

Customer

To the customer, Tesco need to show that they will deliver value for money and care about food. Another concern was the local community that each Tesco operates in. The introduction of the Tesco Community Fund has resulted in €1 million being donated directly to 3,500 local charities. The Tesco club card may be changed to a ‘thank you’ as opposed to a promotional tool. Some very interesting insights coming directly directly from the CEO himself.

Product

The Tesco range is too big and will be reduced by 15%. Fewer, more simple promotions, less multi buys, more half price are rounded euro offers are favoured by consumers. Tesco can have up to 5000 promotions every week. Too many. An emphasis will be placed on pushing the Tesco Brand, particularly the ‘Finest Range’

Channel

Yaxley commented on the need to invest in Service, continual investment in stores and driving the convenience store channel.

dunnhumby

John Callan

Country Manager, dunnhumby.

Callan, the Country Manager for customer trends and insights agency dunnhumby spoke about the concept of altered value and frictionless interaction.

New Value: There have been shifts in attitude regarding the concept of what ‘value’ means following the recession. Discounters have affected the market and contributed vastly to this point.

Frictionless: Customers want a frictionless engagement with the retailer and the brand. They want things quick, easy and simple. Customers need and want connections to your business on a one to one.

dealz

Simon Twigger

Trading Director, Poundland.

Simon Twigger is Trading Director for Poundland, trading as Dealz in The Republic of Ireland. His most notable comment we found? ‘You don’t need to compromise on quality for the right price’. He talked about the brands trajectory from a single UK store, Dealz in Ireland and plans over the next 2 years.

Dealz Slide 2 Dealz Slide 3

Main Points:

  • Dealz launched in Ireland in 2011.
  • At least 10 new stores will open in 2016, a €6million investment.
  • They will seek more local suppliers.
  • Aim of 500,000 customer a week by 2018.

keoghs

Tom Keogh

Managing Director, Keoghs.

The Story: Tom Keoghs story is pretty unique. From farmer to marketer, Keogh describes himself as a farmateer. Keogh faced a pretty surmountable challenge. Between 2002 and 2013 fresh potato consumption feel by 50%, and to succeed they would need to reinvent the potato. The family owned potato growing company expanding into a dedicating crisping business by:

  1. Branding them.
  2. Create new and innovative products.
  3. Market the hell out of the brand.

The Success:

  • Keogh became the brand and is one of the most recognised nationwide.
  • Focused on in-store marketing explaining to consumer varieties the cooking process.
  • Launched national potatoes day
  • Launched a cook book.
  • Now there is a 2 year running increase in the sales of fresh potatoes

So what about crisps?

Tom found out the only way to export potatoes to the US was that they needed to be cooked. By launching a quality crisp, harvesting and crisping on the same day, they have made a unique and successful product with amazing quality.

Centra to open 16 new stores // Sainsbury’s to buy Argos owner Home Retail.

Centra Ireland to open 16 new stores.

centraCentra announced sales of €1.54 billion throughout 2015, a 1.6% rise in sales. Centra cite the introduction of their ‘Live Well’ range as a major factor in this continued growth. The Live Well range was introduced across stores in July 2015 and spreads across their fresh food offerings, highlighting the nutritional benefits in products. Centra, which is owned by The Musgrave Group plans to invest a further €16million across 2016, with 16 new stores and 480 new jobs.

 

Sainsbury’s agrSainsburysee to buy Home Retail for £1.3 billion

In a deal that will combine two of the UK’s biggest retailers, it has been announced that J Sainsbury have agreed to buy Home Retail Group for £1.3 billion. The grocery giant had made an initial approach for Home Retail, who own high street retailer Argos back in November 2015. The deal was rejected and negotiations had stalled until a new deal and price was announced.

The acquisition would be Sainsbury’s biggest ever and mean 800 Argos Stores would be under Sainsbury ownership. The deal is an effort to fight back against competition and online discount merchants, where efficient distribution has been the cornerstone to winning a majority market. The acquisition will mean a vastly expanded delivery network for Sainsbury’s who began introducing Argos outlets into supermarkets last year. Buying Home Retail will also allow Sainsburys to better utilise store space, a problem which it has faced across approx. 25% of stores. This underutilised space will be filled with non-food, clothing and in-store concessions