Scottish Grocers' Federation

What Scottish Grocers' Federation does

The Scottish Grocers' Federation (SGF) is a non-profit trade association founded in 1918 and headquartered at 222/224 Queensferry Road, Edinburgh. It functions as the sole authoritative voice for the Scottish convenience store sector, representing over 5,171 convenience stores that collectively support more than 49,000 jobs across Scotland. The organisation provides policy advocacy, advisory services, research publications, events, and operational programmes to both independent retailers and corporate supplier/wholesaler members, engaging with the Scottish Parliament, Scottish Government, UK Government, and European bodies to influence regulation and secure funding for the sector.

SGF delivers a portfolio of member-facing services rather than a single product. Core offerings include tiered membership packages (Retail Membership at £100 first store / £32 per additional store annually; Corporate Membership with Platinum Plus, Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze tiers), the annual Scottish Local Shop Report co-produced with ACS and the University of Stirling, the Crime Report, advisory content (e.g., MUP and SBBS online calculators, vape ban and Challenge 25 guidance), and events including the Annual Conference, Crime & Security Seminar, Diversity & Inclusion Conference, Mini-Summit, and Scottish Parliament Election Hustings. Operationally the federation runs four wholly-owned subsidiaries: PGMA (Scotland) Ltd (a Costcutter-partnered buying group providing symbol-group access and direct-to-store delivery to independent retailers), the SGF Healthy Living Programme (a school-based healthy eating initiative reaching 50,000 pupils), the SGF Benevolent Fund (financial hardship support for grocery trade workers), and the Go Local Programme (Scottish Government-backed local sourcing initiative). Communications are multi-channel across X, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, bi-weekly email bulletins, and sector press releases.

The business model is membership-fee driven, with two principal revenue streams — retail membership subscriptions and corporate membership subscriptions — supplemented by ancillary income from events, the PGMA buying group, and Scottish Government funding for specific programmes such as Go Local. Pricing is publicly disclosed for retail tiers and varies for corporate tiers. Distribution is direct-to-member, supported by partnerships with wholesalers and symbol-group operators (Booker, Costcutter, One-O-One, United Wholesale Scotland, CJ Lang & Son). The customer base is split between a large long-tail of independent retailers and a concentrated set of named corporate members including Booker, Scotmid Co-op, SPAR Scotland, Costcutter, One-O-One, United Wholesale (Scotland), CJ Lang & Son, Motor Fuel Group, bp, Allwyn, A.G. Barr, Müller Milk & Ingredients, TOMRA, and RVM Systems. SGF is not a technology company; its core capability is regulatory advocacy, sector research, and community/programme delivery rather than a software platform or proprietary technology stack.

Name

Scottish Grocers' Federation

Legal name

Scottish Grocers' Federation

Website

https://sgfscot.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1918

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The Scottish Grocers' Federation (SGF) is a non-profit trade association founded in 1918, representing over 5,171 convenience stores in Scotland through membership services, policy advocacy, sector research, events, and operational programmes serving independent retailers and corporate suppliers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Edinburgh

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail Membership Fees: Annual membership fees from independent convenience store retailers. Retail membership costs £100 for first store and £32 thereafter per year.
2. Corporate Membership Fees: Annual membership fees from corporate members including suppliers, wholesalers, and manufacturers operating in the Scottish convenience sector. Multiple package tiers available.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

SGF is a trade association that represents and supports the Scottish convenience store sector through paid membership packages. Its core offering consists of retail and corporate membership services providing policy advocacy with the Scottish Parliament and Government, advisory and compliance resources, research publications, and an events programme that brings together retailers, suppliers, and service providers. Subsidiaries and associated programmes (PGMA buying group, Benevolent Fund, Healthy Living Programme, Go Local) extend its services into buying-group access, hardship support, healthy-eating initiatives, and local sourcing campaigns.

Product overview

The Scottish Grocers' Federation (SGF) operates as a trade association offering a portfolio of member services rather than a unified technology product. Its core offerings include membership packages providing advocacy representation for Scottish convenience retailers and corporate suppliers, alongside specialized programs such as the SGF Benevolent Fund for financial hardship support, the Healthy Living Programme promoting health initiatives, the Go Local Programme supporting community retail, and the PGMA buying group enabling independent retailers to access symbol group pricing and branding. SGF supplements these with research publications, annual events, online calculators, retailer compliance guidance, and crime prevention resources. The organization functions as an authoritative voice for the Scottish convenience store industry rather than as a software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Retail Membership

Quantifiable outcome

• Secured £9.1bn+ tax contribution from UK convenience sector (2022/23)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Booker WholesalecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerBooker Wholesale serves as Headline Partner for SGF events including the Diversity & Inclusion Conference. As the UK's leading wholesale operator, Booker provides support to independent retailers and collaborates with SGF on industry initiatives.
• Exchange For ChangecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK DRS administrators working with SGF on the UK Deposit Return Scheme. Exchange For Change announced handling fees for retailers participating in the scheme launching October 2027.
• Association of Convenience Stores (ACS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with ACS on the annual Scottish Local Shop Report, providing comprehensive overview of the Scottish convenience retail market.
• Retailers Against Crime (RAC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint partnership with RAC to raise awareness of retail crime impact through the 'Don't Put Up With It!' campaign, involving Crime Stoppers and Police Scotland.
• Police ScotlandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on retail crime issues, protection of workers legislation, and the 'Don't Put Up With It!' campaign supporting retailers facing abuse and violence.
• Crime Stoppers / FearlesscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint campaign partners in the 'Don't Put Up With It!' initiative to combat retail crime and provide reporting mechanisms for retailers.
• GroceryAidcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSGF works alongside GroceryAid to offer additional financial and wellbeing services to those who have worked in the Scottish grocery trade, and to raise funds for the sector.
• University of StirlingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration with Professor Leigh Sparks on the True Cost of Employment studies and Scottish Local Shop Reports, providing academic rigor to industry analysis.
• AllwynminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMulti-national lottery operator (Platinum Plus member) working with 40,000+ retailers including small corner shops and convenience stores throughout UK.
• A.G. BarrminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFTSE 250 branded consumer goods business (Platinum Plus member) established over 140 years ago, producing IRN-BRU, RUBICON, and STRATHMORE water.
• Müller Milk & IngredientsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorBritain's largest producer of branded and private label fresh milk, cream, butter and ingredients products (Platinum member) with network of dairies and depots.
• Healthy Living ProgrammecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSGF programme reaching 50,000 pupils with healthy breakfasts across Scotland, promoting healthy eating in convenience stores.
• Go Local ProgrammecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSGF programme supported by Scottish Government to boost local and regional food and drink sourcing in convenience stores.
• CostcuttercoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPGMA (SGF subsidiary) operates as buying group through partnership with Costcutter, providing independent retailers access to symbol group benefits including Co-op own label products.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ScotGrocersFed
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC-ZIOiQ_D0GXTbHxOWPHKnw
• Facebookfacebook.com/ScottishGrocersFederation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/scottish-grocers-federation
• Instagraminstagram.com/scotgrocersfed

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Scottish Grocers' Federation