The Westport-headquartered Kavanagh Group continued their ambitious business expansion earlier this month, when company owner and Managing Director, Mr Noel Kavanagh, cut the ribbon to officially open a new store in the UK.
This brings to 16 the number of supermarkets now operating in The Kavanagh Group, with over 1,000 people employed across the west and north west of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK.
Kavanagh’s Budgens Supermarket in Hedge End, Southampton, represents a substantial investment by the Group, and the new store also incorporates a unit of the globally popular Subway franchise. As part of Ireland’s largest food wholesaler – The Musgrave Group – the Budgens chain in the UK supports Irish jobs through selling products and groceries that have been grown, sourced or manufactured in Ireland.
There are currently 189 Budgens retail stores in the UK, but with a total revamp and incorporating many new concepts, product ranges, deals and a modern and upgraded image, the latest edition to the Kavanagh Group is being hailed as a model store and template for all Budgens supermarkets.
This latest acquisition brings to five, the number of supermarkets operated by the company in the UK. The others are in Bishop’s Waltham, Selsey, Midhurst and Billinghurst. In keeping with the strong family emphasis on the day to day running of the entire Group, which has been a hallmark of the Kavanagh Group’s success since their earliest days, Noel Kavanagh (junior), oversees the company’s operations in the UK, where he is based full-time. His brother Mark – based in Westport – is also a Director of the Company.
As the store opened two weeks ago, customers were queuing round the block to be the first to see the new layout and meet Noel and his family. The Kavanagh Group have hired a further 20 people from the area to work alongside the 40 staff members previously employed at the store, many of whom have over ten years service there.
Commenting after the opening, Group MD, Mr Noel Kavanagh, said he, his wife Marion and their family, were all delighted with the refurbishment. He added that the feedback from customers was wholly positive. “This store is a combination of all the new concepts and recent developments that have occurred in the Budgens chain, pooled under one roof,” he said. “Musgraves are hopeful that this store will become a flagship retailer within the Budgens stable, and be used as an example across the UK to recruit more operators to the brand, while improving the shopping experiences of all our customers. By using our new store as a template for all that is positive and exciting, including the latest concepts, products and value prices at Budgens, it is hoped to bring both new and existing stores into line with The Musgrave Group’s vision for the future of the Budgens brand. In that regard we are delighted that The Kavanagh Group are leading the way”.
The Mayo News
