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The SPAR ethos is all about business partnerships and joint cooperation.  There are numerous ways that this philosophy is lived out across our business and we have established a number of flagship programmes to allow us to work with independent retailers and help them to develop market leading stores. 
 

Retail Partners Programme

The Meridian & Welsh Guild launched its pioneering Retail Partners Programme at its annual SPAR Retail Show with the intention of providing lower wholesale prices to our retailers. 

The scheme was introduced to leverage the buying power of the combined A.F. Blakemore and Capper & Co group and improve retail and ranging disciplines. 

Retailers who join the new Retail Partners Programme will move to A.F. Blakemore’s current Terms 2 wholesale pricing and pay no delivery surcharges.  Members also receive an additional £1,500 per annum marketing allowance. 

To be part of the partnership scheme, retailers will be required to embrace key retail discipline, fully support the national promotional programme, maintain full purchasing loyalty and operate either SPARPoS or Torex retail systems. 

The Retail Partners Programme is an optional voluntary scheme and those retailers who choose not to join will continue to trade under their current terms and will still be able to take advantage of the Guaranteed Investment Scheme. 
 

Guaranteed Investment Scheme

The Guaranteed Investment Scheme is a risk-free way for independent retailers to develop market leading in-store standards in association with A.F. Blakemore & Son Ltd. 

The scheme is available to all members of the Meridian & Welsh Guild and covers work carried out by A.F. Blakemore’s bespoke shopfitting company Blakemore Design & Shopfitting. 

The minimum development spend to qualify for the scheme is £30,000 and A.F. Blakemore will guarantee that the additional gross profit earned following the refit will at least repay the financial cost over a five year period. 

To participate in the scheme, one of our commercial managers will produce a return on investment report from your sales information, which will provide a development budget. 

Individual stores will be reviewed annually to ensure that the gross profit earned over the year is sufficient to meet the financial costs, and any shortfall will be credited to your trading account. 
 

Co-Investment Scheme

Our Co-Investment Scheme means that we will co-invest up to a third of the value of a refit through Blakemore Design & Shopfitting, in return for a five-year trading agreement. 

The scheme allows retailers to save up to a third of their refit cost and is available for new businesses, retailers opening second sites and new recruits to the Meridian & Welsh Guild. 
 

Headlease Scheme

Our Headlease Scheme is a means for retailers to gain assistance from us in the purchase of a new store.  

We will provide up to a third of the funding towards the purchase of a new store in return for A.F. Blakemore taking the main lease and the retailer operating with an underlease. 

The store will belong to the retailer but cannot be sold out of SPAR, and a trading agreement must be signed to ensure future loyalty.