Londis is a

symbol group A symbol group is a form of franchise of convenience shops, found primarily in the United Kingdom and Ireland. They do not own or operate shops, but act as suppliers to independent shops which then trade under a common banner. Unlike other form ...

in the United Kingdom with over 2,000 stores nationwide.

Tesco plc Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

owns the brand, following its 2018 purchase of

Booker Group Booker Group Limited is a British food wholesale operator and subsidiary of Tesco. In January 2017, it was announced that the British multinational supermarket retailer Tesco had agreed to purchase the company for £3.7 billion. It was confirm ...

.https://www.economicsonline.co.uk/business_economics/tesco_buys_booker.html/ Although it was formerly a subsidiary, the Londis brand in Ireland is no longer related to Londis (UK).

Etymology

The name Londis is a contraction of "London District Stores".

History

Foundation

Londis was established in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

in 1959 by Kevin Stanley Adams as a communally owned company, with each retailer owning a share in the parent company.

Acquisition by Musgrave Group

However, in June 2004, the parent company was sold to the Irish Musgrave

wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

chain with a payment of £31,000 being made to each retailer who owned a stake, bringing it under the same ownership as

Budgens Budgens Stores Ltd, trading as Budgens, is a chain of grocery stores in the United Kingdom. The business was founded in 1872 by John Budgen, who opened the first shop in Maidenhead, Berkshire and was incorporated as a private limited company o ...

, which has now adopted a similar franchise based business model. This acquisition proved controversial, with the CEO of Musgrave in the United Kingdom, Eoin McGettigan, steering through the choppy waters of member revolts and counter offers from others backed by Icelandic banks. A separate, but wholly owned subsidiary company, Musgrave Retail Partners GB Ltd. was formed to supply the stores, until it was sold to Booker Group in 2015.In May 2015, Londis' parent company Musgrave Group confirmed it had reached an agreement to sell

and Londis for £40 million to the wholesaler

, subject to regulatory approval.

Acquistion by Booker Group

Since May 2015, the company has been owned by

, which purchased Londis and its sister company

from the

Musgrave Group Musgrave Group Ltd. is an Irish food wholesaler, founded in Cork by the Musgrave brothers, Thomas and Stuart in 1876. It is currently Ireland's largest grocery distributor, with operations in Ireland and Spain with estimated annual sales of ove ...

for £40 million. Tesco plc acquired Booker Group in 2018.

Operations

The current Londis retailer network is in excess of 2,200 stores and forecourt shops located throughout

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. There is a Londis at every

Butlins Butlin's is a chain of large seaside resorts in the United Kingdom. Butlin's was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families. Between 1936 and 1966, ten camps were built, including one in Ireland and o ...

Pontins Pontins is a British company operating holiday parks in the UK, founded in 1946 by Fred Pontin. Since 2011, it has been owned by Britannia Hotels. Pontins specialises in offering half-board and self-catering holidays featuring entertainment ...

and

Haven Holidays Haven Holidays is a chain of holiday parks in the United Kingdom. It operates self catering static caravan holiday parks with many also including touring and camping facilities. The company operates 41 sites in the UK in predominantly coastal ...

camp.

References

External links

Londis UK website
{{Convenience stores Tesco 1959 establishments in the United Kingdom Convenience stores of the United Kingdom Demutualized organizations Former co-operatives of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1959 Retail companies established in 1959 Retailers' cooperatives British brands Supermarkets of the United Kingdom Retail companies of the United Kingdom