UK grocery retailer and wholesaler A.F Blakemore & Son unifies retail planning with RELEX technology

A.F Blakemore & Son, the UK’s largest SPAR retailer and wholesaler, has ramped up its investment with RELEX Solutions to unify its retail planning operations.

Building on its use of the firm’s technology for wholesale and distribution centre forecasting and replenishment, A.F. Blakemore will expand this to its retail business and implement RELEX space planning capabilities across its convenience store network.   

Operating nearly 250 SPAR stores across England and Wales and supporting a large network of independent retailers, its stores offer essential services and a wide selection of fresh, chilled, and locally sourced products. 

Its expanded use of RELEX’s unified, AI driven platform, including weather aware forecasting, seasonal planning, and automated replenishment, will enable faster, smarter decisions across the product lifecycle. This allows for dynamic adaptation to changing conditions and demand shifts, better promotion planning, and more effective clearance strategies. 

The platform also brings planogram optimisation at both store and cluster levels. This alignment between supply chain and store execution enables scalable expansion into trade partner locations, with consistent performance and efficiency across formats. 

“Our collaboration with RELEX has already driven significant value in our distribution and wholesale operations,” says Marc Deakin, Supply Chain Director at A.F. Blakemore. “Extending this success into retail is a natural next step. Unified planning will not only improve availability and efficiency, it will also provide us with a toolkit to expand across our trade partner stores.” 

"We are thrilled to partner with A.F. Blakemore and RELEX on this transformative project," says Henk Jan Rijkse, Director and Founder, Supply Chain Company. "By connecting supply chain and store level planning, we see tremendous opportunities to unlock value. With our expertise in SPAR implementations, we are confident in delivering tangible benefits, quickly together." 

“A.F. Blakemore is a fantastic example of how a unified planning approach can transform convenience retail,” says Jason Berry, Senior Vice President, EMEA, RELEX Solutions. “We’re proud to expand our partnership and bring integrated, AI driven planning to more parts of their business, delivering measurable results every step of the way.” 

2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

AI will be a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards. which are now open for entries, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended November's gathering. 

For further information on the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, please fill in the below form and we will get back to you asap.