Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Snacks win Scotmid larger slice of the pie

The Scotmid store at Drumnadrochit
The Scotmid store at Drumnadrochit

Scotland’s largest independent co-operative has defied a gloomy retail climate to deliver higher profits and turnover.

Scotmid said yesterday trading profits grew by 8% to £2.5 million during the 26 weeks to July 27.

Turnover increased by £3m to £190m as the business benefited from growth in food-to-go sales to customers looking for a quick bite to eat.

Recent innovations at Scotmid’s convenience stores include a “rib & wing bar”, while new product trials have seen the introduction of self-serve ice-cream, pancakes, flat breads and paninis.

First-half figures were also boosted by the co-operative’s property division, which achieved record levels of income.

Scotmid is a commercial and residential landlord, with both markets benefiting from new lettings and rental income growth.

The Edinburgh-based group, which is celebrating its 160th year, said its 89-strong chain of Semichem health and beauty shops “held its position”, helped by successful cost control.

Scotmid’s funerals business registered a weaker first half, compared with a “very strong” result a year ago, with performance affected by “the cyclical pattern of this business”.

Boosted by a property sale, pre-tax profits for the latest period came in at £1.87m – up from £937,000 a year ago.

Scotmid chief executive John Brodie said the 2019 figures were all the more satisfying as they were achieved without the benefit of last year’s record-breaking sunshine.

He added: “It was a strong performance across the society in the first half, particularly given that last year’s figures got such a boost from the good weather.

“A lot of hard work and new initiatives have gone into delivering this result.”

Mr Brodie said Scotmid’s 177 convenience stores throughout Scotland continued to face “exceptionally tough” trading conditions, with Brexit creating uncertainty for everyone.

Scotmid’s commitment to local produce will likely stand the business in good stead, he said, adding: “The biggest challenge we face is not knowing what it is that we should be preparing for.

“We are still looking for clarity on what a (Brexit) deal will mean, and equally for what ‘no deal’ will mean. We can only focus on matters within our control.”