Type Private Area served United Kingdom Owner Booker Group Founded 1959 | Industry Retail Products Groceries Website www.londis.co.uk Parent organization Musgrave Group | |
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Londis is a chain of convenience store franchises operating in the United Kingdom. The stores form a symbol group and are all owned on a franchise basis.
As of December 2014, the company had an estimated net worth of £79 million.
Since May 2015, the company has been owned by Booker Group, which purchased Londis and its sister company Budgens from the Musgrave Group for £40 million.
Operations
Londis was established in Great Britain in 1959 by Kevin Stanley–Adams as a communally owned company, with each retailer owning a share in the parent company. The name Londis was a contraction of "London District Stores". However, in 2004, the parent company was sold to the Irish Musgrave wholesale chain with a payment of £31,000 being made to each retailer who owned a stake, bringing it under the same ownership as Budgens, which has now adopted a similar franchise-based business model.
This acquisition was highly controversial, with the CEO of Musgrave in the United Kingdom, Eoin McGettigan, steering through the choppy waters of member revolts and counter offers from others backed by Icelandic banks. A separate, but wholly owned subsidiary company, Musgrave Retail Partners GB Ltd. was formed to supply the stores. The current Londis retailer network is in excess of 2,200 stores, and forecourt shops located throughout England, Scotland & Wales. 2008 saw an increase of over 200 stores, a record yearly increase for Londis. There is a Londis at every Butlins, Pontins and Haven Holidays camp.
A typical Londis outlet will have a sales area of about 1,100 square feet (100 m2). The stores usually open early in the morning and stay open all day, closing late in the evening. In May 2015, Londis' parent company Musgrave Group confirmed it had reached an agreement to sell Budgens and Londis for £40 million to the wholesaler Booker Group, subject to regulatory approval.