SPAR Scotland is back hosting one of the largest retail events in Scotland

C J Lang & Son Ltd, the leading Scottish wholesaler and SPAR convenience retailer celebrated a superb tradeshow and conference in Aviemore on Thursday 22 September 2022.

Themed “We’re Back”, the event took place at the MacDonald Hotel and Resort in the heart of Aviemore and the Cairngorms National Park. The venue was the perfect destination for over 800 delegates who travelled from around Scotland and the rest of the UK.

It was C J Lang’s first face-to-face event in over two years and has been heralded as one of Scotland’s biggest retail events of 2022, certainly the biggest ever hosted by the company with the event being a sell-out weeks ago. 

Colin McLean, SPAR Scotland CEO, said: “Our 2022 tradeshow has been a great opportunity to engage with our independent retailers, SPAR Scotland store colleagues and suppliers face-to-face. We are absolutely delighted with the support we’ve received. Over 180 suppliers took stands to show their support and the response from our independent retailers and stores has been phenomenal.” 

C J Lang & Son Ltd has been on an unprecedented transformation journey since 2018, when the owners of the SPAR fascia in Scotland embarked upon its 2025 strategy to be Scotland’s favourite community, convenience wholesaler and retailer.

Leaving no stone unturned, McLean said they couldn’t have got to where they are today without their loyal customers, retailers, colleagues and suppliers. 

“We made a bold move in taking a fresh new approach and the transformation over the last four years has been astonishing. We have achieved four years of profitable sales growth, we have a robust financial platform to build upon, better business alignment, greater consistency of store operations and a great way of working. We are also modernising the SPAR Scotland store business by securing additional investment and planning.   That extends to the modernisation of the brand in Scotland through our partnership with the Scottish FA and regular advertising on STV all taking our brand to a wider audience across the country.

“SPAR is the most recognised symbol group in the country, and it has been great to see independent retailers appreciating this opportunity. C J Lang & Son is a Scottish company, with a strong family background, working in partnership with community focused retailers and stores.

“We are fully committed to building not only our own business, but the SPAR stores owned by our independent retailers. Our ambitious plans have everything in place to support retailers in the SPAR family. The only symbol group to move independent convenience store businesses forward is SPAR Scotland,” he added.

During the event SPAR Scotland revealed that Aviemore will be their home for the next 2 years.  Delegates were advised to hold the dates for w/c 25th September 2023 and w/c 23rd September 2024.