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Location

The footprint for the group as is extends from the South Midlands in the North to the county of Kent in the South, westwards into Devon and West Glamorgan and to the East, the county of Norfolk.

Member Profile

Lakeside Group is open to independent motor fuel retailers who share common cause by pursuing best practice in all facets of their business. In practice membership appeals to retailers who are results driven as well as subscribing to the following practices.

  • A willingness to work together for the good of the group as well as being supportive of individual members.
  • A willingness to share intellectual property within the group. The culture of the group is for members to be “boosters not drainers”.
  • A clear focus on what the Lakeside Group believes to be the key elements of the business; motor fuel, car valet and convenience store retailing.
  • A clear strategy for substantive growth through the continued investment in existing outlets to maximise their potential (sweating the asset), further accquisitions or the development of green field sites.
  • An ability to identify and adopt appropriate innovations and technologies.
  • Adopts a long term strategy for the development of his/her busiess and is likeley to be in it for the long haul.

Lakeside members retail all major brands of motor fuel through traditional filling station / convenience store oulets. The stores in the main are supplied by SPAR and Budgens.

A number of our members are seeking to grow their businesses by expanding into stand alone convenience stores with great success

There is no minimum number of sites qualification to be considered for membership of Lakeside Group.

History

Lakeside Group was founded in April 1999 and is the brain child of Robert Fraser of the Fraser Group who brought together a group of like minded retailers who shared the same concerns over the direction our industry was taking as a result of oil company policies and hypermarket activities. These were causing fundamental change that continues to this day. There were initially only 10 group members.

Since that day the group has evolved into one that has replaced and improved on all the services and expertise that had traditionally been supplied by the oil companies. Over the years Lakeside Group has continued to develop in key areas fundamental to it’s success. These are as follows:

  • The group has embraced information technology and indeed contributed to it’s development with our preferred IT supplier. Lakeside has a very active working group whose remit is to develop links with IT companies in order that the membership is aware and can take advantage of the latest technologies.
  • The development of Working Groups covering key areas of Lakeside Group’s activities and whose membership bring particular strengths or interests that reflect the needs of that working group.
  • The decision to form an alliance with SPAR as Lakeside Groups preferred wholesaler brought about a dramatic improvement in the stores and their profitability. All members and staff have now made the cultural shift, accepting that all the services offered on site form part of the convenience offer. Lakeside has accepted that some sites demand a different offer in store and now Budgens has joined our list of preferred suppliers. An additional benefit of this policy is the bringing of another major national brand to the sites. The continued development of high quality stores is fundamental to the groups success.
  • Whilst not being a buying group it was decided to form partnerships with a number of suppliers of products, services and equipment. These arrangements have proved financially benificial to members and the running of the group.
  • At the outset car valet was seen as a point of differentiation from forecourt based c-stores operated operated by hypermarkets and a key profit centre. As a result there has been major investment in every form of car wash and support facilities such as vacs and fragrance. A much improved profit performance followed.
  • The profitable retailing of motor fuel during this period has grown increasingly difficult as a result of hypermarket and oil company activities, a shrinking choice of suppliers and offers accompanied by ever decreasing margins. Lakeside Group decided that the only answer within our control was to retail the product more efficiently and minimise losses by investing in vapour management and wet stock control systems. In addition investment was made in BigOil a system that monitors product price movement; result, deliveries at the most advantagous time and control over margin and price.
  • Lakeside Group receives information from sources as diverse as the PRA, IGD and ACS in the UK and NACS and SIGMA in the USA as a result of a policy to hear and be heard. The result is members sitting on influential bodies and forums and speaking at industry related meetings where they are able to lobby companies and most importantly Government. The result is an extremely well informed membership whose views are heard at the highest level.
  • Lakeside Group members are now served by a dedicated administrative resource, that runs and updates the web site, maintains contact with all members, suppliers and associations, gathers and distributes information, sources opportunities, arranges all meetings and identifies contributers, handles membership applications and is the focal point for all who wish to make contact with the group.
  • Effective communication was considered to be essential for the running of the group and therfore all members and the administrator are linked by e-mail which enables members to have access to information instantly. Face to face meetings are considered to be an essential part of maintaining the group culture; these are held on a quarterly basis with time allocated to speakers and in house matters.

In summary, the Lakeside Group members have prospered during this period of incredible change as a result of working together, adopting the appropriate strategies and embracing and adapting to change. Within the group membership is not about numbers; rather it is about identifying those that “buy into” the Lakeside Group culture and want to be part of it. The result is a membership that has grown substantially to 26 companies, all of whom are dedicated to fostering the well being of the group. In short, after 7 years Lakeside has developed into a professional group whose members are in great shape and remain dedicated to substantive growth and profitability.