Jempson’s, a win, win for everyone

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Following last week’s announcement that Jempson’s have agreed to a partnership with Morrisons, I contacted Jempson’s managing director, Stephen Jempson who kindly agreed to an interview to explain how this decision had been reached and what we can all expect in the future.

As a family business Jempson’s have been hugely supportive of local charities and organisations, particularly the Rye Foodbank and some readers are wondering if this may now change. There have also been questions raised as to what effect this new partnership will have on prices, range of products and future opening times. These and other points were raised with Stephen in our discussion as detailed below.

Jempson’s have enjoyed a long standing relationship with your suppliers Nisa, why change course now?

“As a company we review our supply chain (where we purchase the bulk of our goods from) on a very regular basis. Jempson’s joined Nisa in 1982 and for over 40 years Nisa have served Jempson’s very well. I had the privilege of serving on the Nisa Board for nine years and as deputy chairman for five years.

“However, in 2018 Nisa was sold to the Co-op. Most of the larger independent retailers in the country had sold out to the multiples (eg. supermarket chains), and the buying group was no longer sustainable on its own. The Co-op purchased the group and retained the contracts for supply of goods to the Nisa retailers.

“There were many things about the Co-op acquisition which aligned with our thinking, namely we would become part of a bigger group (Co-op £5bn turnover) and it would give us access to a more extensive own label range.

“Whilst we have tried to counter this it has become increasingly obvious with our larger stores that this will not work for us. I have been negotiating with Morrisons for nearly five years and have also had long discussions with three other supermarket chains as to which is the best route for Jempson’s to take in the future.

“One major plus, that drew me to Morrisons was the fact that, of all the major retailers in the UK, they are the only one that own their own farms, nurseries, bakeries and even trawlers! This control of the supply chain is a great supplement to our existing network of small, local and artisan suppliers.”

What happened to your Heritage range of products?

“Many will remember the old Heritage range, which only had 450 lines making it very difficult for us to compete against the big own label ranges of the food stores.

“The Co-op range of 1,800 products gave us a great platform to begin to counter the competition, and it has been very well received by our customers. Over the last four years the Co-op’s focus has been very much on the smaller convenience stores. This has been reflected in the smaller range of goods available, with unsuitable pack sizes for our stores and most importantly a focus on convenience pricing. I am not saying that this policy is wrong, it simply in my opinion does not provide a neat fit for Jempson’s stores.”

What benefits will your customers see?

“This is a win-win situation.

“Firstly, customers will see a greater range of Morrisons own label including their own Best range. This range is around 8,000 lines, and reflects Morrisons servicing larger stores. Traditionally, own label lines represent excellent value for money.

“Secondly, the prices in our large stores ie. Rye, Peasmarsh and Battle and others, will align with the prices in large Morrisons supermarkets.

“Thirdly, there will be a greater range of products that are more suited to the weekly family shopper.

“And finally, fourthly, our home delivery service will feature the Morrisons range as well. There will be a range of over 10,000 products to choose from and have delivered to your door.”

Will your stores remain closed on a Sunday?

“Yes, I passionately believe that all our people need a rest. Our stores are open up to 96 hrs a week giving our customers an extended choice of opening hours. Do you know we have one of the lowest staff turnover rates in the industry? We regularly get requests from prospective employees who long to spend their Sundays at home with their loved ones. I do realise that there are some trades and duties (medical) that have to work and they should be supported and remunerated accordingly.”

As one of the area’s largest employers will this merger produce further employment opportunities?

“Nick, I would stress that this is not a merger(!), it is a contract to supply the bulk of our goods. We have not been bought out. I do believe however, that like the huge decision 40 odd years ago, this will be transformative for Jempson’s.

“If there is one thing that keeps me awake at night, it is looking after our people. I won’t make empty promises, we intend to grow at a steady pace, that is affordable. We have some exceptional young colleagues working in the business now, and I want them to see a career path from the small stores to running large stores and also aspire to perhaps store planning or trading functions.

“If you will allow me to, I should add here that with our Jempson’s model (completely unlike the major national chains), we will continue to deal with our local and artisan suppliers for the long term such as egg farmers, apple producers, potato growers, strawberry farmers etc etc. Many of these companies have grown with us and I would like to think they will grow their business and company further. Last year, the expenditure with these suppliers was just under £5m. This initiative saves thousands of food miles annually and creates hundreds of local jobs. All this grows the local economy and as such our people, our families and our businesses prosper, which hopefully allows our infrastructure to develop sustainably alongside. I know I will be accused of bias, but this is what is so necessary to build long term, sustainable and viable communities.

“I can announce also, that we will be opening two new small stores, along with major plans for some of our existing sites. Undoubtedly there will be further employment opportunities in the pipeline.“

What other initiatives can your customers expect?

“Our Click & Collect service is currently available at Peasmarsh, but we do want to roll this out to other stores, and finally for this year, hopefully(!) we have Scan & Go app which is about to launch – the IT department will be mad at me letting this out of the bag!”

What message would you like to pass onto your customers?

“This is a huge change for us as a business. We are currently planning the conversions. The plan is to start with Peasmarsh and then do the other six sites at three to four week intervals, with completion around mid-November. I expect every store to have to be closed a few days before the launch.

“I would ask for your understanding whilst our colleagues work through all these changes. We are favoured to have an exceptional band of loyal local colleagues who are working tirelessly to ensure that the changeover is as hitch-free as possible.

“Finally, I would like to thank all our customers for their continued loyalty, support and interest – it is a pleasure to serve you.

“If any of your readers or anyone interested would like any further information please don’t hesitate to let me know on mail@jempsons.com.”

Image Credits: Nick Forman .

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13 COMMENTS

  1. Jempsons has been a faithful partner to the Rye Food Bank over the years. We value that and cherish the partnership, and we wish Stephen and his team every possible success in the future.

  2. Whilst Jempsons pricing is competitive on some KVI’s it is hugely overpriced on other items and this has to be addressed.

    RN note.. KVI=Known Value Item

    • Why? It’s an open market. Retailers are entitled to set prices at a level that works for them, taking profits, shareholders, employees, and suppliers into account.

      Big supermarket chains achieve low prices by squeezing local suppliers, who end up going out of business, and by hiring insufficient staff at lower wages, resulting in dirty, disorganized stores with banks of self-pay stations instead of human cashiers. Discount chains import in bulk, disadvantaging the UK’s domestic food industry.

      Jempson’s clearly can’t compete on price with these big chains if they’re treating their staff properly, buying British, and paying fair prices to local suppliers. How do you propose to “address” that?

      • Why – because it’s a win win for everyone. People would shop there more. I think in a good week Jempsons might do £200/250k in t/o. In a good day Aldi does about £100k. There’s a reason for that.
        Now it’s not about matching Aldi but it should be about getting nearer to main supermarket pricing. Jempsons have benefited from group buying for decades with various buying groups eg NISA and the point of these is to allow amalgamated buying with the promise of agreed instore activity eg promotion/price/range, to justify the groups buying prices they achieve.
        However the truth is that Jempsons have a monopoly in Rye and that position is exploited and has been for years. They are the only ‘supermarket’ and yet most of their pricing is at convenience store level.
        Connecting with Morrisons should allow Jempsons to reduce pricing and I hope they do that. I would use it more if they did.

  3. Best wishes to Stephen and everyone at Jempsons. We wish there were more employers like him his values are in the right place! We are fortunate to support Jempsons.

  4. May I wish you all every success in this new venture for Jempsons.
    Always very challenging to meet the expectations of all customers
    Hopefully the price points of Morrisons will help.
    I will miss the coop brand which I have enjoyed very much.

  5. There is no ‘win win for everyone’. Jempson’s, regardless of whom they partner with, have a monopoly. The facts remain the same; a weekly shop from Waitrose which offers more variety, more deals, more tempting new produce, and is home delivered, works out cheaper than a trip to Jempson’s. And on more than one occasion various Jempson’s staff have told me that even with their staff discount they shop elsewhere. The chain has an image problem, it doesn’t appear to be very well liked. And something I find rather ridiculous about Rye is the fact it would be easier to buy a £20,000 piece of art than find an organic pint of milk or any organic meat or vegetable produce.

  6. I agree with the previous comment on overpricing. Reading between the lines, it appears Stephen Jempson concedes that even the Co-op range featured higher ‘convenience pricing’ and unsuitable pack sizes. It’s encouraging that there will be 8,000 Morrisons product lines introduced in Jempson’s Peasmarsh store, but crucially how many Jempson’s products will remain? ‘Which’ reports that for a basket of 43 grocery items bought last month, Morrisons cost £89.01, Tesco £85.32 and Aldi £74.81. The main concern over Jempson’s has long been that it operates a monopoly of physical (non-convenience) supermarkets in the Rye area. Its high prices reflect this. Its primary competition comes from online-ordered van delivery by cheaper rivals, from Aldi in Hastings and from Tesco in Tenterden. The lack of Sunday trading at Jempson’s remains a concern to many local people. If another supermarket opened in Rye, it would offer Sunday opening, and Jempson’s would be forced to respond. A rival, more competitive, supermarket in Rye would likely sound the death knell to Jempson’s operation, and the Morrisons deal is evidently designed to head this off at the pass. Whether it will, or not, remains to be seen. Jempson’s should, however, be congratulated for its support of local producers over the decades and for its steadfast response during the pandemic.

  7. In regard to Sunday opening the store is open 6 days a week from 6 am till 10 pm. I work full time and sometimes go just after 6 in the morning usually in the week. Gets it done and beats the rush! For most things the post office is also open that early which is very helpful too! Who wishes to be pushing a trolly around a supermarket on a Sunday – I find more enjoyable things to do with the precious time I have off. Also thank you to Jempsons for all the charity work you do for Rye and the community and wishing you and your employees all the best for the future.

  8. I read many times about Jempson not opening on a Sunday for their staff
    In my opinion Sunday is the worst day to have off, myself I worked 2 weekends out of 4 weeks for 21 years I found any other days then Sunday more quite and peaceful most people are at work during the week.

    Rye on a Sunday noisy church bells ringing out , motorbikes revving up most of the morning hearing motor bikes miles away, traffic jams from rye to camber polluting the air ,people catching up on their DIY jobs , grass cutting.
    No thanks give me a week day off any time.
    Also less golfers in the week on the golf course.
    Vic
    .

  9. I would miss all my exercise if I did not have my daily visit to Jempsons. ! I knew some of threir staff as children and check up to see that they are behaving.! I am glad to say they are!
    I was a customer at their Peasemarsh Store for many years before they set upa a Store in Rye. We are fortunate to have them here. May Jempsons continue to Flourish with Ian as Head.

    Aoife Coleman

  10. I think the Jempson proposal sounds very positive. I am not concerned by the monopoly aspect of available supermarkets. I am just grateful that we have a family company committed to local supply chains; employing and training local people and making a stand for Sunday closure.
    We are heading for many changes in lifestyle as climate change takes effect. Local and seasonal food supplies will become more important. As an island we cannot continue to rely on imports to satisfy a created demand for anything we want whenever we want it. Think forward. Plan for this changing future. Be grateful.

  11. Good luck to Stephen and his team. He knows that Jempsons is not the cheapest, and that he certainly enjoys no monopoly as other have said; nobody has to shop at Jempsons – the likes of Ocado, Sainsburys, Tesco and Asda will all deliver to this local area at lower prices. But Jempsons offers a very pleasant shopping experience, an excellent restaurant (again, not at Sainsbury’s prices but the offering is somewhat different also) and fair fuel pricing. Hopefully sourcing product from Morrisons will improve the prices, but I have found the Co-Op own labels to be pretty good.
    And to be honest are we that desperate for Sunday opening – if we can’t go for one day, then there’s always the excellent convenience store at Tilling Green, Iden village store, and the old Skinners garage. It was never a problem in the past…….

    There are very few shops in Rye and the surrounding area that are actually useful to the local population. Most of the town centre shops are firmly aimed at the tourist market – trinket town. Jempsons have a valuable role for locals who choose to shop there, and from those visitors I have spoken to most absolutely love the store as the experience is so different from the hustle and bustle they are used to.

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