McColl’s pays for P&H collapse

SUPPLY chain disruption following the collapse of wholesaler Palmer & Harvey dented profits at convenience retailer McColl’s.

McColl’s said the loss of supply to 700 of its stores by P&H’s administration in November 2017 created “major disruption” and forced it to accelerate a new deal with Morrisons.

It added: “Moving to a new wholesale supply partner, at a much faster pace than anticipated, created its own challenges and severely disrupted our plans for the launch of Safeway.”

Total annual like-for-like sales fell 1.4 per cent and pre-tax profit more than halved from £18.4million to £7.9million. But shares rose 5¾p to 56½p after an improvement in recent trading.