Shoppers save £5.6 million at Dudley discount store in a year

Company Shop Dudley on Birmingham New Road said there had been a collective saving of £5,648,176 in the past 12 months, helping to stretch hard-working family budgets during the cost-of-living squeeze.

Figures also demonstrate how the Dudley store has saved 2,017 tonnes of perfectly-good food, drink and household products from needlessly going to waste, helping to generate the equivalent of 4,803,121 meals for the community.

The same positive impact has been delivered for members across the group’s further 13 Company Shop stores and 12 Community Shops in England and Scotland, with the unique retail model collectively saving UK shoppers £121 million on their food bills – up by £21 million on last year.

Membership for Company Shop stores is completely free and lasts a lifetime.

It is open to those working in FMCG manufacturing and logistics; the NHS and emergency services; social care; prison services; British Armed Forces; employees and volunteers for charities, and those on means-tested benefits amongst others, helping the power of surplus food to reach where it has the most benefit.

The new impact data was announced as part of the latest impact report for Company Shop Group – the UK’s largest surplus redistribution organisation.

Among the headline figures included the group redistributing 45,578 tonnes of surplus food and products in 2023 across the UK – a 10 per cent increase on the previous year and the largest undertaking in its 50-year history.

With the report launching during Food Waste Action Week, the group also confirmed that it generated the equivalent of 108,500,000 meals from surplus stock in the last year alone.

Company Shop also helped industry partners, including regional businesses, by providing a £47 million financial return on surplus that would have otherwise been needlessly wasted.

Wayne Deeming, regional store manager at Company Shop Dudley, said: “We are so proud to have been able to save so many members in Dudley so much money in the past 12 months; we know how much of a difference it makes for families.

“We are committed to making sure that every day, our shelves are stacked with high-quality surplus food and household products from brands that our members love at deeply-discounted prices.

"The dual benefit of Company Shop’s model means that we can help our members to both stretch their budgets slightly and do something good for the planet by preventing good food from going to waste.

“We would love to see those who qualify for our free membership sign up online or by visiting our store, to see first-hand the huge impact Company Shop can have for them.”