Driving Success with Budgens

The Manchett family chose to partner with Budgens for the shop on their Jet forecourt site in Burwell, Cambridgeshire and now they’re reaping the rewards of increased sales.

The business was started in 1961 and three generations of the Manchett family have brought the group of companies to what it is today, encompassing all areas of the motor trade.  Entering into the convenience retail sector fitted in with the dynamics of the business and the family joined forces with Budgens to drive their business forward.

The forecourt site at Burwell was developed and the previous store knocked down in order to rebuild a new state-of-the-art 2,345 sq ft convenience store.  The Budgens store development team then refitted the store to the latest Budgens brand standards.

Alcohol, food-to-go, greetings cards, news/magazines and fresh/chilled foods were all new to the range.  The Budgens ‘Good to go’ range along with coffee are prominent and the first aisle is dedicated to fresh foods.  Some 14m of fresh-food chillers draw customers to the bakery section where there’s 1m dedicated to freshly baked bread, plus 2m packaged bread and morning goods.  Specialist wooden flooring and lighting create a ‘store within a store’ atmosphere for the off licence section.

There’s an express checkout, packed with impulse lines, for those just paying for fuel and not wanting to do a big shop.  There are two other till points for those with bigger shopping baskets.

The initial anticipated turnover of £20,000 a week has already been surpassed, just weeks after opening.  Fuel sales have also increased considerably.

On the launch day, the family invited a local award-winning school choir to perform at the front of the store.  Postcards were delivered to the local area, telling people about the new store and they started a facebook site.

The team of 17 staff are all recruited from the local area.