Nisa has revealed that it will not be making any cuts to its delivery fleet when Costcutter leaves the group at the beginning of July, because it wants to concentrate on service to its members.

“We are leaving all our supply chain service in place after 2 July,” said Nisa CEO Neil Turton. “We’re going to invest in service over that crucial period – it’s the middle of summer and the World Cup – and retailers need to trust that their shelves will be full.

“It’s a vital trading period and one retailers can ill afford to get wrong. It’s predicted an extra £124m will be spent on food and drink for every week England remain in Brazil 2014.”

Nisa said it was already investing in its supply chain and a move to fixed driver routes was producing improvements.

The first areas to receive fixed driver routes were the south west and those stores serviced out of the Stoke depot. In the five months since the roll out began, these areas have reported an average increase in on-time delivery service levels of 3.72% and 4.95% respectively.

“The fixed driver routes have proved very successful, with positive feedback received from both members and drivers alike,” said Jon Stowe, supply chain director. “During the flooding in the first month or so of 2014, we were able to achieve extremely high service levels, while competitors were struggling.

“The fixed driver routes made this possible, giving drivers’ confidence in their schedules and the relationships to discuss delivery arrangements first hand with their allocated stores. This resulted in the proactive rerouting of deliveries to miss trouble spots and still achieve delivery requirements.”