Following receipt of guidance from the Office of Fair Trading ("OFT"), Palmer & Harvey ("P&H") and Makro, two of the UK’s largest wholesale suppliers, are pleased to announce that they have joined forces to form PalMak, a new buying co-operation, which will begin operating with immediate effect.

The aim of the partnership is to negotiate terms of trade across a broad portfolio of products providing manufacturers with the opportunity to maximise sales to tens of thousands of independent retailers and food service customers. PalMak will consist of a team of category specialists drawn from both companies to negotiate the best possible terms for their respective customers. It is designed to give independent retailers and catering outlets access to scale benefits currently only enjoyed by key multiple groups in order to help them compete in a continuously challenging retail environment.

P&H and Makro have a complementary focus and are an excellent fit, from both a cultural and business perspective. By combining their strengths they will be able to develop fully future opportunities.

Commenting on the new group, P&H’s Managing Director Commercial, Peter Austen, said:

"This is an exciting opportunity which will offer significant benefits to everyone involved. P&H and Makro have many suppliers in common and the new buying group will allow us to develop existing relationships, increase volumes traded and improve efficiencies. This move underlines our commitment to ensuring we negotiate the best possible prices for our respective customers."

Makro’s Commercial Director, Allard Sjollema, added:

"We are delighted to be working with a partner, whose values are very much aligned with our own, to establish this buying group in the UK. This is a model we have successfully implemented across Europe with a number of different partners and we have seen the positive benefits that can be reaped from such co-operations. At the same time we are able to forge stronger supplier relationships and going forward we expect the new venture to create opportunities for them as the buying collaboration builds on its foundations."

Conversations will shortly begin with suppliers regarding the next steps for 2010 trade.

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For further information please contact:

For Palmer & Harvey:
Cardew Group
T: 020 7930 0777
Nadja Vetter / Emma Consett

For Makro:
Tangerine PR
T: 0161 817 6600
Karen Adams / Sophie Downend

Notes to Editors:

Makro

With more than 25,000 products in every store and over 2,000 fresh lines, Makro is one of the UK’s largest cash and carry operators. Employing 6,500 people in stores which stretch from the north of Scotland to the south of England, Makro is part of METRO Cash & Carry.

METRO Cash & Carry is represented in 30 countries with over 670 self-service wholesale centers. With more than 100,000 employees worldwide, the company achieved sales of € 31 billion in 2009.

METRO Cash & Carry is a sales division of the METRO Group, one of the most important international trading companies. In 2009 the Group reached sales of € 66 billion. The company has a headcount of some 300,000 employees and operates around 2,100 stores in 32 countries. The Group’s performance is based on the strength of its sales divisions which operate independently in their respective market segment: METRO/MAKRO Cash & Carry – the international leader in self-service wholesale, Real hypermarkets, Media Markt and Saturn – European market leader in consumer electronics retailing, and Galeria Kaufhof department stores.

More information at: www.metrogroup.de.

Palmer & Harvey

Palmer and Harvey (‘P&H’) is the largest full range delivered wholesaler and one of the largest privately owned companies in the UK, with an annual turnover of more than £4 billion.

P&H was founded in 1925 and began life as a traditional tobacco and confectionery wholesaler. Since then the Company has broadened its wholesale offering and customer base considerably. P&H has become recognised as the one stop shop for the busy retailer meeting the needs of CTN's, High Street convenience stores, Forecourts, Off-Licences and Supermarkets in both the independent and multiple sectors The Company offers competitive packages at every service level and up to 9,000 lines spanning ambient (including Alcohol), Chilled and Frozen products. It also owns Symbol fascias Mace, Mace Express, Supershop and Your Store - an estate in excess of 720 stores.

During the past years, P&H has further strengthened its services to both independent and multiple customers through the development of its trading packages and infrastructure. As part of this the Company

• brought together its Chilled and Ambient offering.
• acquired T&A Symonds and Youngs to complement its existing warehouse infrastructure in the South West and the North East of England.
• launched Partnership Plus, an ongoing tailored growth package providing retail solutions to independent retail customers in areas such as specialised category management, stock merchandising including best in class planograms, expert business advice identifying new sales opportunities and exclusive promotional packages for big brand products.
• Introduced the Plus News service to deliver a hassle-free, profitable News section for the independent trade through increased availability, reduced waste and strong monthly promotional packages, including some fantastic cross-category initiatives.
• Developed a new transactional website offering 24-hour ordering which is designed to provide greater flexibility to customers and add real value to their businesses.