Business Awards 2019

12 MEA MARKETS / 2019MEA Business Awards , 2019, two UMS member stores were recognised as part of IGA’s International Retailers of the Year Awards. Representing South Africa, both SuperSave Food Town Hyper and Take n Pay Food Town Hyper were recipients of a number of awards including International Retailers of the Year (Southern Africa). Drawing people together, maintaining impeccable standards, solving market-specific issues and driving departmental sales ever higher are just a handful of the reasons why both stores won. Through their partnerships with UMS, they have access to an infrastructure that enabled growth and assistance to become award-winners. For UMS, the firm’s history of drawing together stores to create buying power and providing a solid infrastructure whilst maintaining uniqueness remains at its core moving forward. The business is set to keep on empowering many more stores well into the future. More than a business, however, UMS is a champion for local communities. Local stores can do so much, offering local job creation, increasing product diversity, building local networks, boosting environmental sustainability, building stronger communities and increasing local competition. The stores also provide a hub where people can come together, socialise and feel that they belong. A community- driven business, UMS not only empowers retail and wholesale stores to be economically stable, but also to establish relationships with communities. Partnerships remain crucial to the success of the business philosophy at UMS, in order to see more and more areas served by local stores and people. With the firm’s roots planted firmly in African soil, the commitment of UMS to take care of local communities extends to its multitude of outreach programmes and initiatives. For UMS and its members, these can take a myriad of forms, from sponsoring a young boys rugby team, to non-profit organisations that build self-sustaining villages for orphaned children, community walks and sports days, school feeding schemes and support for the elderly and the vulnerable. Not only a collaboration between family-run businesses, this firm recognises the desire to go beyond the four walls of a store to help entire communities. In order to ensure it can consistently welcome new members into a family of community-focused stores, UMS itself operates as a family- driven business. Built on solid foundations, the firm is a shining example of excellence, integrity and discipline, empathy, humility, respect, honour, diligence, partnership and innovation, and gratitude to all its member stores. CEO Jad Pereira, a family man himself, has cultivated a reputation for UMS as one of the most excellent partners for the FMCG retail and wholesale sector across South and Southern Africa. Ultimately, the story of UMS is just beginning, despite its nearly- twenty year history. Providing independent wholesale and retail stores with much-needed infrastructure and business growth strategies, this firm is one of the most collaborative and community-driven of its kind. By combining the strength of more than 450 members, every store can receive the innovative services, excellent deals, and unwavering unity that enable them to compete even more effectively against corporate retail. More than all of this, however, the firm is a beacon of family-driven business being used to effectively serve local communities with everything they need, and what could be more important than that? Company: Unitrade Management Services (Pty) Ltd Executive General Managers:- UMS Northern Division: Ivo Barradas UMS Coastal Division: Ravi Lutchman UMS Southern Division: Fermino Gomes UMS Eastern Cape: David Nunan Website: www.unitrade.co.za