R & M Swaine Ltd was formed in Barnsley in 1987 by father and son Ronnie and Martin Swaine. At the time the business operated a supermarket under the Costcutter fascia but this grew throughout the late eighties and early nineties to a total of nine bustling outlets in and around Barnsley. During this period the company developed a strong and keenly priced range of beers wines and spirits within a supermarket format and was able to enjoy almost 60% of its turnover from drink related products.

In order to capitalise on this experience the Directors decided to develop a specialist outlet selling only beers wines and spirits and in 1993 the first Rhythm & Booze (“R & B”) store opened in Armthorpe, Doncaster. The store was an instant success and slowly thereafter the transition from selling everything in a supermarket environment to selling a limited and highly focused range of drinks in a different kind of size and location began. 

To maintain reasonable volumes and therefore competitive pricing the company simultaneously started up a delivered wholesale drinks service to other retailers and wholesalers. This enabled the establishment of a 25,000 sq ft warehouse, office and distribution centre in Wombwell, Barnsley. The company also quickly became a member of NISA, the UK’s largest and most successful buying consortium. Thereafter there followed a steady progression of R & B store openings and growth in wholesale activity as the supermarkets were being sold off.

In 2002 the company decided to enlist the services of Gagewell (now Clipper), a specialist distributor of high value goods. The purpose of this was to enable the company to focus on more store openings and improved retail standards by allowing a specialist service company to take care of all aspects of managing and distributing stock in an efficient manner. In 2002 the company purchased an old Methodist church in Ardsley, Barnsley which it immediately converted to an interesting and unusual head office, ably assisted by the architects Halliday Clarke.

By summer 2009 the company had successfully expanded to 38 well established outlets with another 4 unopened stores in various stages of progress. This brought the total estate to 42 stores with an employee count of 280 and an annual turnover to June09 in excess of £50m. For the period 2008 to 2009 R & M Swaine Ltd was ranked the 17^th fastest growing business in South Yorkshire.

Another company was formed in 2009 called the Barnsley Beer Company. The purpose of this was to create an attractive regional beer brand based upon the sayings, traditions and character of Barnsley. Brewed by the award winning Wentworth Brewery this range of twelve highly distinctive and quirky ales are selling exceptionally well throughout the company’s estate and also in other retail and wholesale outlets, including Netto, Booths, B & M Retail and many others.   

In November 2009 and following the demise of First Quench Retail, the company has successfully acquired a further 34 stores literally overnight from the Administrator KPMG. These stores are in attractive and busy locations mainly throughout Yorkshire but also include a small number in Humberside, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.

 

Future Development

Despite the recession and recent high profile retail store closures R & B passionately believes in the future of specialist drinks retailing. In today’s society more and more time is being spent at home with a greater number of consumers preferring to have a glass of wine or beer in their own house rather than at the pub. Entertainment is increasingly focused around staying in rather than going out as the recent wide scale closure of many public houses has shown.

The key to our success is that we have evolved an attractive retail format that is customer rather than supplier focused. We offer both an extensive, unusual and familiar range at attractive prices in a clean, well lit, well merchandised and above all, friendly environment. In addition to this we also have a highly professional, dedicated and skilled workforce both in the office, stores and warehouse.

Walking into a typical Rhythm & Booze store is like walking into a well organised Aladdin’s cave. The pricing is competitive and clear, the offers constantly change, the range is quirky, diverse yet unpretentious, the service is attentive but not obsessive, store fit out is excellent and optimised, systems are state of the art, availability is nigh on 100% and having chilled product is top priority.

Recent developments have included a 3 for £10 offer we refer to as everything you need for “THE BIG NITE IN” – any 3 items from a selection of great wines, cold beers, hand cooked meals, indulgent ice cream and recently released movies. We also have “A PINT OF THE UNUSUAL” – proper real ale on draught (our own Barnsley Beer) to take home.

We have big packs, small packs, multi buys and case deals, bucket loads of local beers and a vast collection of imported pilsners, single orchard ciders as well as rocket fuel, spirits to suit all pockets and tastes, wines from entry level to stratospheric level…..all under one roof with some amazing bargains thrown in and nicely presented too. In a nutshell, here when you want us, with just what you want, with some interesting stuff as well as the usual brands, at great prices and loads of cold beer and wine to boot. 

We like to call it “doing it properly but also doing it differently”.