Founder and chairman of Costcutter Supermarkets, Colin Graves, joins the Board of Ascona Group
Founder and former chairman of Costcutter Supermarkets, Colin Graves, has joined the Board of Top 50 Indie Ascona Group, as a non-executive director.
Colin served as chairman of the grocery group from its inception until 2012, during which time he grew the group from one store in 1986 to more than 1,700 in 2012, as it evolved into a familiar British brand with operations across the country.
Colin had begun his career in groceries at Spar at the age of 21, and over the next 16 years worked his way up to sales director. He then founded Costcutter, aiming to revolutionise the grocery sector through its innovative network of convenience stores that provided a platform for independent retailers to compete with larger supermarkets through collective buying and marketing.
For the past six years, Colin has served as chairman of the Advisory Board of Nisa, a key partner of Ascona Group. In keeping with Ascona’s strategy to develop the next evolution of roadside retail destinations with first-rate convenience stores, Colin’s role will be to support the executive team to realise its strategic ambitions.
“I am very excited to be joining Ascona, a business I have admired for a long time and watched closely as it has grown,” he said.
”The business commitment to delivering quality, value and convenience to road users and communities across the country resonate with my own values and I look forward to working with Darren and the team on the next phase of its story.”
Darren Briggs, Ascona Group’s founder and CEO, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Colin to the Ascona family. His unparalleled expertise in the convenience retail sector and visionary leadership are exactly what we need to help us execute our strategic ambitions.
“As a fellow founder of a business, Colin’s track record of success at Costcutter speaks for itself, and we are confident that his insights will be invaluable to us all as we continue to innovate and expand our world-class operations across the country.”
