Mr. Dowd: We're retail grocers and have developed into the supermarket industry over a period of 100 years. The business was started by the present Executive Chairman, Ken Morrison's father, and developed through what we call the town markets - open-air markets - into what it is today: a 110-strong supermarket chain with a turnover of GBP3.5 billion, employing 40,000 people and now covering a large part of England. We're regarded as the sixth largest food supermarket chain in the UK.
TWST: Give me an idea of the size of the market in UK retail grocery.
Mr. Dowd: The market is probably in the region of GBP70-75 billion a
year and we have around 5% of it.
TWST: How rapidly is it growing?
Mr. Dowd: It's growing relatively slowly now because of consolidation
and the strength of the supermarket chains. There's the demise of corner
shops and smaller outlets, and it's probably 1%-2%. Our growth is mainly
through expansion and taking trade from our competitors.
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