The challenge took place earlier this year, with participants running, walking, swimming or cycling to rack up miles in aid of the local charity.

Action Mental Health has grown from humble beginnings in Downpatrick in 1963. The charity promotes the mental health and well-being of people in Northern Ireland and helps break the stigma of mental illness in the community.

Henderson Retail’s store employees, along with their Mallusk based colleagues, have taken part in this annual challenge for the past three years, raising a total of over £50,000 and covering 27,727 miles.

The top number of miles covered for 2024 was achieved by David Wedt from SPAR Cherryvalley who covered 1,992.1 miles alone and Gillian Kelly from Henderson Technology was the top fundraiser who raised £465.

A number of stores also showed their support with in-store fundraisers including bucket collections and turning their store purple, Action Mental Health’s signature colour.

BREAK STIGMAS

Jonathan Smyth from Action Mental Health said: “We want to say a huge thank you to all staff who got involved and raised an amazing amount of money for our charity. One in five adults in Northern Ireland will be affected by mental ill-health and this donation will help us continue to support people who need our services, changing the lives of many people across the country.”

Bronagh Luke, Head of Corporate Marketing at Henderson Group added: “I want to thank all store employees and their Mallusk based colleagues who took part in the Miles for Mental Health Challenge, as well as our generous shoppers who kindly donated.

“Action Mental Health is a deserving charity which does such important work, helping to break stigmas and supporting people across Northern Ireland when they need it most.

“Our partnership for the past three years with Action Mental Health has been so important to raise awareness of the charity’s valuable services. We are looking forward to continuing support for the charity throughout the year as well as providing health and well-being support for our colleagues.”

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Henderson Group and bp pulse, bp’s electric vehicle charging business, have signed an agreement to work together to install up to 200 electric vehicle (EV) charge points at around 100 Henderson Retail sites across Northern Ireland within the next two years, including at 30 bp branded Henderson Retail locations.

“The demand for ultra-fast charging points in Northern Ireland is high. Current figures from the Department for Transport show there are currently around 18,762 ultra-low emission vehicles registered in the region[1], an increase of 55% in the past two years alone. This steep trajectory of the volume of electric vehicles on the road is only going to continue, yet Northern Ireland has just 60 ultra-fast charge points in operation[2],” says Ron Whitten, Chief Financial Officer at Henderson Group.

Roll-out

With this roll-out bp pulse aspires to create one of the region’s largest networks of ultra-fast and rapid EV charging, aiming to add up to 15,000 kW of charging capacity.

bp pulse charge points are already live and charging EVs at 17 bp SPAR sites across Northern Ireland as well as at another four Henderson Retail SPAR sites. The full roll-out is planned to be finished by end 2025.

Whitten continues, “Henderson Retail operates over 100 busy stores, 81 of which have fuel forecourts in Northern Ireland, used frequently by those on the go throughout the day.

“We are making considered, positive steps in line with consumer behaviour and working with bp pulse to install ultra-fast chargers at our sites which will give EV drivers the opportunity to charge at a location that is convenient to their journey.”

Charging units

bp pulse is installing charging units which have an innovative integrated battery storage system. They are installed with a connection to a standard voltage power grid. This overcomes a significant barrier to the roll-out of EV charging infrastructure and removes the need for construction of a dedicated high-voltage substation, considerably reducing installation cost and time. Each charger has two charge points – one ultra-fast (150kW) and one rapid (100kW) – delivering a combined power of up to 250kW.

Akira Kirton CEO, bp pulse UK added; “Fast, reliable charging in convenient locations is essential to give drivers the confidence to switch to electric vehicles. Working with Henderson Group, a retail network that dominates the market in Northern Ireland, we have the opportunity and aspiration to create one of the largest networks of ultra-fast and rapid charging points – meeting the rise in demand for now and in the future.”

Mark McCall co-founder of the Electric Vehicle Association NI said “The Electric Vehicle Association NI welcomes today’s announcement from Henderson Group and bp pulse. This significant investment aims to bring over 200 direct current ultra-fast and rapid chargers to retail destinations across NI, making it easier and more convenient to drive an electric vehicle in Northern Ireland.”

bp pulse is one of the largest electric vehicle charging operators in the UK. It has ambitious plans to deliver on-the-go and destination charging infrastructure.

Investment

bp plans to invest up to £18 billion in the UK energy system by 2030. This includes up to £1 billion for EV charging infrastructure.

Whitten finished; “This is a significant step in Henderson Group’s commitment towards more sustainable business practices as part of our Tomorrow Matters strategy, focusing on People, Place, Planet and aims to develop the business in a way that is beneficial to both staff and customers while having a positive impact on society.

“We have a strong belief in reinvesting in our business and continually giving back to the Northern Ireland community. This rollout builds on the long-standing cooperation between bp and our Henderson Retail SPAR and EUROSPAR sites as the largest operator of bp branded forecourts in Northern Ireland.”

[1] Table VEH0142 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/vehicle-licensing-statistics-data-tables

[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electric-vehicle-charging-device-statistics-october-2023/electric-vehicle-charging-device-statistics-october-2023

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The total renovation and extension of the store took six months and has created 28 jobs and is now a space where those who live and work in the area can pick up everything for breakfast, lunch or dinner on the go.

Mark McCammond, Retail Director at Henderson Group said: “Mallusk is largely industrial with many businesses operating in the area, however it also has high passing trade and residential areas on its outskirts.

“When designing this store, we wanted to ensure we were delivering on freshly prepared food to go options, alongside an abundance of value driven local products and essentials for tonight’s tea and beyond, as well as attractive consumer services that make us stand out in a busy marketplace.”

This strategy has resulted in a unique and exclusive food to go offering, from SPAR’s newest food to go brand, Delish, complemented by Northern Ireland’s first Barista Bar Drive-Thru and a Subway counter, a combination of products and services that will be a huge draw to the high footfall, low dwell time shopper the team expect for the area.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner from Delish and Barista Bar in-store can also be ordered online via the SPAR Savvy Shopper App and collected at store, a real plus for time-pressed consumers.

Mark added: “Every part of the store has been considered and built for differing shopper demands. Barista Bar, created by Henderson Group’s foodservice business, Henderson Foodservice, has seen exceptional growth in the past couple of years. The popular coffee brand has gained an even greater presence in our SPAR, EUROSPAR and ViVO branded stores and now we are delighted to introduce the first drive-thru concept for the brand in Northern Ireland.

“Shoppers can expect the full Barista Bar experience at the drive-thru with signature cappuccino, americano and lattes, alongside specialities from flat whites to mochas and chai teas. There is even more choice available as customers will be able to personalise their drinks with a plant-based milk alternative (oat) and the decaf options available. We will also have seasonal specialities, and shoppers can take advantage of a full hot breakfast, lunch and treats menu from Delish.”

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Landscape Filling Station on the Crumlin Road in Belfast opened in mid January following a lengthy seven-year gestation and is already proving hugely popular.

It’s a sign of its appeal that even the builders who completed the work are now coming there for their lunch while they work on another project in Belfast.

The forecourt launched by The Wall Group, which owns four SPAR stores in the North Belfast area, has been built on former Housing Executive land and replaces a much smaller forecourt across the road, which is destined to provide social housing for the area.

Helen Wall explains: “Part of the deal was that we had to build houses as well. So we’ve built six social houses behind the new shop and when the other shop is knocked down we have to build another four. That was part of the deal – it’s like the redevelopment of the whole area.”

She’s hoping that this new forecourt will be at the heart of a wider redevelopment. “If somebody would get the hotel (at Crumlin Courthouse) up and running, somebody else is talking about doing a hub with offices, the whole bottom of the road could be changing, and hopefully we will have a Post Office coming soon.”

First foray

The old Landscape filling station was the first foray into convenience stores for Helen and her husband Gavan, founders of the Wall Group.

“It was 468 sq ft and we had rented it out to somebody else to run. So we started off with that, and then we went up to the Ardoyne store and then we got the Whitewell store and we got Rathcoole – they’re all SPAR stores,” she says.

“The original Landscape store was really a glorified sweet shop with a petrol court. We did so many sweets, fizzy drinks, cigarettes and petrol, whereas our new store has 15 dairy fridges, six freezers, it’s got a deli, a Nugelato ice cream concession – it’s everything the other shop wasn’t.”

Helen herself is a qualified accountant, who has worked with everyone from Winemark and Musgrave before finally joining her husband Gavan in the family business four years ago. Before that, she says, former barrister Gavan changed careers and took on retail as a full-time role 13 years ago when they encountered some difficulties with the leaseholder of the old Landscape station.

He decided to run the station himself, much to Helen’s shock at the time.

She explains, laughingly: “I said ‘What, I’m eight months’ pregnant and you’re going to leave the Bar’ – and let me tell you, he had a fabulous practice at the Bar. You’re joking! But he said No, I’ve always really wanted to do it … and he did.

Start of an empire

“He started it and it was doing something like £9,000 a week, and when we left it was doing over £60,000. We did it, we opened 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and we partnered with Hendersons.

“Then a year and a half later, they said to him ‘Look we’ve another one just up the road, now Ardoyne is coming on board, do you fancy that’ and Gavin went ‘Yeah why not’ so then he took that one on.  And then he bought another out on the Whitewell Road and then Rathcoole came along.”

About four years into running Landscape, the Girdwood redevelopment came on the radar and there was a sense of things happening in North Belfast – and it spurred Gavan to put plans in place for a bigger and better version of the Landscape station.

“Even though he’s not from north Belfast, Gavan went to school in North Belfast and always loved it,” Helen says.

“He said this whole area needs to be redeveloped and someone’s talking about doing the Courthouse and Girdwood Barracks, they’re making it into a recreational centre. I’m going to try and get a new petrol station – this road is crying out for it.

“It took him seven years to get planning passed and he got planning passed in the middle of Covid, in lockdown. We got planning sanctioned in April and we started building in May.”

Brilliant team

Helen pays tribute to the team who got the impressive new 5,000 sq ft store up and running so quickly, including builders Cleary Contracting, architects Ashley Lamont and Conor McCavitt from Whittaker + Watt, WH Stephens, Dougan Contracts and Martin Food Equipment.

“We touched lucky, we had a really good team behind us – they were fabulous,” she says.

The site is over five times the size of the previous site and boasts an eight-pump Go Fuel forecourt with 22 car parking spaces – it will open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

With The Wall Group’s bespoke ‘foodvenience’ offering, shoppers can pick up the SPAR Enjoy Local own-brand fresh food range, alongside food-to-go counters, including the Nugelato brand, the dailyDeli and Barista Bar coffee machines.

“We’ve got a complete fresh concession, with 15 fridges and six or seven freezers,” Helen says.

“We’ve put doors on all our fridges to keep our energy costs down and conserve energy and we don’t have any of the 5p plastic bags as well.”

State of the art tech

Meanwhile, the team have gone for state-of-the-art when it comes to store tech, investing in many of Henderson’s most up-to-the-minute developments.

“Each checkout has got the new Glory system attached to it so our staff never have to touch cash which was very beneficial during Covid,” Helen says.

“So if you came in and you wanted to pay and it was £18 you can either tap your credit card or if you put in £20 it will shoot you out your £2 change. It’s all facing you as a customer so there’s no cash touched by our staff.

“And we’ve gone for the electronic shelf edge labels, the ESELs. When you think of all the paper and the ink you’re using for all the ordinary SELs, hopefully that will be a move that we will make through all our stores eventually and put in the electronic SELS.

“The benefit of ESELS should be realised at promotional change-overs. Staff members can utilise their time in a more productive and value adding activity.

“We’re still trying to find our feet on it, but hopefully we will and it’s certainly something I would put in the other stores, so it doesn’t take half a day every time there’s a promotional change.”

It should also help with the familiar dilemma that arises when Trading Standards comes to tell them that something advertised at 58p has actually cost £75p, she says.

“Everything like that should match because it’s the back-office press of a button that sends all the prices, and what comes through the tills goes straight on to the electronic SELs. So hopefully it’s not only increasing labour productivity and saving on paper costs, but it will make us more compliant for Trading Standards – otherwise things can get missed.

“I’ve done it now in this store because we wanted as much high tech that we could put into it to see if it works. We need to see, does it do what it says on the tin.”

Onboarding system

The company has also invested in an HR system called OBBI which provides an onboarding process for every new employee that is recruited. It records the age of the employee, their details and whether they’re able and trained to sell cigarettes or lottery tickets: “It will ensure that we’ve got every member of staff trained to the right level and compliant with all the legal obligations that we’re meant to do within the store.”

The Wall Group has a culture of promoting from within and this system should help fit staff to the best posts and assist with succession planning, Helen says.

“It means we can ask Colin, who is the manager that we promoted to  a role encompassing Training, People Development, Compliance and Audit, ‘Who do we know in stores who have got x, y and z’ and he should be able to pull up and say ‘Helen, she’s able to do x, y and z’ – will she be beneficial down here, this is what we need.”

The Wall Group are proud of their organisational structure which allows them to respond quickly when anything unexpected comes along.

Data at fingertips

Helen pays tribute to their full-time accountant Ruairi who has put in place a portal that allows them access to regular information on the performance of each department.

“Ruairi has implemented a whole new system, the Wall Group Portal where we can monitor our KPI’s on a daily basis.

Our Operations Director, Kieran and his team ensures that all our stores deliver on sales, margin and excellent staffing. He ensures the smooth running of our four Spar stores and our Subway outlets.

“We’ve set up the systems and procedures, so if we get another store on board, we literally just lift these tools and put them over to the next site.”

Helen says that while they’re still on the look-out for more stores, they are hugely proud of the one they’ve just opened.

“It’s magnificent. It’s a £3 million spend – we decided from the start that we would build a beautiful store – fantastic lights and even from the front, it looks really good.

“Mind you when the first electricity bill came in, it was three times what I thought it was going to be with the way utilities are at the moment! But it looks really, really well. I’m so glad that we did it and I’m really proud of how it looks.”

To read the full article, visit Ireland’s Forecourt & Convenience Retailer magazine.

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