Scotmid Co-op has defied tough trading conditions to report a trading profit of £4.3m and increased turnover by £4.5m to £429.4m for the year to 25 January.
The retail society finished the year with a record balance sheet, reporting net assets of £127.2m, and made a significant acquisition in September with the takeover of Fosters Funeral Directors, taking on 24 funeral homes to grow its portfolio to over 40 locations.
“This strategic expansion provides geographical alignment across the central belt and significantly increased the market share of the funeral division,“ said the society in its results announcement.
Despite an easing of energy prices and overall inflation, the food convenience division reported significant challenges last year, with cost of living crisis continuing to dent consumer confidence and the impact of wage increases, high interest rates and global instability impacting overall performance.
The society’s Semichem arm was affected by reduced footfall during the year, the report adds, as “high street store closures, poor weather and a reduction in non-essential purchases due to low consumer confidence collectively impacted trading.”
However, Semichem enjoyed a postive festive season driven by strong fragrance sales, and stores underwent major refurbishments, as did food stores with the further roll out of the Kitchen Food to Go range and installation of new tech like self-scan equipment, new tills and counters.
Scotmid’s Property division performed well, the society added, driven by good commercial lease renewals and residential rent reviews.
CEO Karen Scot, welcomed the “robust trading performance“ and said the society will continue “to invest in our stores and to introduce new technology, products and services that meet the shifting needs of our customers”.
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She also highlighted the society’s community support, adding: “From our charity partnerships with RNLI and Maggie’s to our Winter Giving campaign, Community Connect initiative and donations to charities like Erskine and the Jamieson Spatial Laboratory, Scotmid continues to seek out ways to improve people’s everyday lives, all year round.“
During 2024, she added, the society donated £168,000 to 24 good causes through the Community Connect scheme; launched the Spirit of Cooperation lifeboat – which recently carried out its first rescue – in partnership with RNLI; gave £50,000 to foodbanks, community pantries, and hubs as part of the Winter Giving campaign, and named Maggie’s cancer support as its 2024/25 charity partner.
Speaking to Co-op News, Scott pointed to the retailer’s Scottish food sourcing initiative. Run in partnership with Scotland Food and Drink, it has added six new suppliers to the society’s shelves, which is “great for Scotland and our local economy“. With a strong co-op presence in Scotland’s agri food sector, Scott added that she was planning to meet with the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS) to see if there are more opportunities for collaboration.
In terms of principle six – co-operation among co-operatives – Scott highlighted the recent power purchase agreement Scotmid has signed, along with several other retail societies, to source wind energy from RWE, which will help with energy costs and the society’s push to reduce its climate impact.
Scotmid has also been working alongside other retail co-ops to tackle the UK-wide epidemic of of store crime, she said, winning awards for its initiatives and lobbying the Scottish government which invested £3m into the problem at its last budget.
She said the society will continue to invest in its own talent through its Grow Aspire staff development programme. “I’ve worked in retail 37 years,“ she said. “I love it and it offers a great opportunity for career development – we’re big on internal succession.”
And although the trading headwinds will continue – with factors ranging from the National Insurance hike at home to renewed global uncertainty as Trump’s tariffs in the US weaken the global economy – Scott remains confident.
“We haven’t wavered in our commitment to invest in stores, new products and new services,“ she said. At Semichem, which was hit by falling non-food spending by consumers and poor weather last summer, “we’re working hard to account for customer needs and a changing retail environment”.
Scotmid will consider more acquisitions if an opportunity that is right for the society comes along, she said, and there are more new stores in the pipeline. Recent additions to the society’s food portfolio include the sympathetic conversion of an empty parish church in Burghead, Moray.
