About Lawrence Hunt
Lawrence Hunt is responsible for more SPAR members adopting the "8 till late" concept than anyone else other than John Irish himself. He was of the first to follow the convenience route and, like so many others since, did so as a defensive measure against growing multiple opposition.
Lawrence started working for his father in 1950 and by 1981 the Hunt business had grown to encompass six stores. Only one, at Broadfield Drive , Leyland had a license and it was because of this that it was chosen as an "8 till late" test site in November '81 in order to cash in on the Christmas wines and spirits trade. In the event Lawrence says "We found we were literally sitting on a gold mine".
By March 1982 all the stores had been converted to the convenience format. He acknowledges that without the opportunities offered by "8 till late" his business could never have expanded to the total of 24 stores it has today. From the outset he both publicly and privately urged fellow members to follow suit and had some impatience with those who after so many years and much proof of success of "8 till late" still required convincing.
In the early nineties Lawrence became involved in international SPAR which required him to travel the world.
Lawrence, after 50 years in SPAR, has finally decided to retire and has handed the leadership of the company to his son Kevin. The company will not be the same without Lawrence at the helm but Kevin has the potential to continue in his fathers footsteps and provide the company with new ideas that will keep the company expanding and continuing to be a hugely successful company.
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