Bestway is set to invest over £2.5m to reduce the cost price of more than 11,000 best-selling branded products across all categories.

The move looks to enable its retailers to make more margin and help them maintain their competitiveness in the market, aiming to drive footfall and customer loyalty by focusing on best-selling products.

It comes as the wholesaler is also removing the fuel levy charge (previously at £3.66 per delivery) for all mainland Costcutter stores for deliveries made on, or after Wednesday 1 January 2025.

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Bestway Wholesale managing director Dawood Pervez reinforced that the investment looks to support retailers as the nation approaches changes to the Minimum Wage threshold alongside upcoming National Insurance increases set for April.

He said: “After Brexit, came Covid and now we have increases to National Insurance and National Living Wage thresholds coming into play. There’s no question this will impact on retailers at a point when it’s clear that consumers will have less money in their pockets due to continuing inflation and slower than anticipated reductions in interest rates.

“In 2024 we paid out over £10m in rebates to Costcutter retailers, therefore we want to ensure that everyone is maximising the full benefit of this profit driving scheme. It doesn’t stop there. Our vision for 2025 is to continue to co-invest in retailers’ businesses via refits and store modernisation plans.”

Pervez added: “We’re also embracing the New Year with fresh investment in a wider sense to support growth both for our retailers and our own business.

“This includes a focus on our leadership team through investing in people, investment in leading edge technology and services, and through working closely with our supply partners to maintain the competitive edge that we are proud to offer our customers”.