Manchester’s biggest sweetshop has a new sweet-toothed boss.
Nick Edwards has taken over at confectionery wholesaler Hancocks in Gorton and will be heading up a team of ten sweet experts.
The store, which will be celebrating its 50th birthday next year, has been in the city since 1976, serving independent and convenience retailers from across the North West.
During that time it’s seen massive changes in confectionery trends and sales, with the growth of novelty sweets, the introduction of confectionery from across the globe and evolving flavours and textures.
It’s also seen sweet-toothed Britons remain loyal to traditional sweetshop favourites including rhubarb and custards, pear drops and lemon sherberts.
Over recent months Nick and his team have seen a growing trend towards confectionery seen on popular social media channels including TikTok.
They’ve seen sales for sour flavours soar with Zed Souracha Super Sour Candy Sauce being a particular favourite.
Other trending sweets include pick n mix for making candy salads – the Hancocks Kingway range has over 200 pick and mix sweets to choose from, Warheads popping candy and Sweet Vibes are also very popular.
Nick, who’s from Wigan, joined the business from Tesco where he worked as store manager across Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside.
Sweet toothed Nick is enjoying tasting all the new samples coming into the store. His favourite sweet is a Tongue Painter, loving the taste and texture of the popular novelty confectionery.
Manchester store manager, Nick Edwards, said: “Working at Hancocks is a dream come true – who wouldn’t want to work in a giant sweetshop?
“The influence TikTok and social media is having on the sector is immense. Customers are visiting convenience stores asking for these sweets and retailers are coming to us to make sure they have the right confectionery in stock.
“Influencers are clocking up thousands of views both trying trending sweets and re-packing confectionery favourites – it shows that this trend shows no sign of slowing down.
“The team here at Hancocks understand the importance of staying ahead of the curve when it comes to social media trends. That’s why we ensure that our TikTok sweets collection is always stocked with the confectionery that’s making waves on the platform.”
Hancocks is the biggest confectionery wholesaler in the North and Nick says the customer service and outstanding offers put them ahead of the competition.
Nick continued: “Every day I’m getting the opportunity to meet customers from all different industries. We work closely with sweets shops, convenience stores, market traders, seasonal events and ecom sellers.
“All businesses are facing challenges at the moment with rising costs. We’re very conscious that retailers don’t have as much money to spend and their customers are on tighter budgets.
“We’re working hard to offer our customers great value in the North West, as are the rest of the Hancocks depots across the UK, by running and sharing strong offers across popular confectionery lines to help their money go further.
“We have offers on big brand confectionery, snacks and drinks.We also have excellent deals for customers on novelty confectionery items with our Knockout Novelty Deal and our Kingsway Pick n Mix Multi-buy offer. These deals mean lots of savings for customers.”
Hancocks CEO Jonathan Summerley said: “We’re delighted to welcome Nick to the biggest confectionery wholesaler in the North at our Hancocks depot in Manchester. The North West is a great region to do business in and Nick has lots of good managerial experience working in Lancashire, Manchester and Merseyside.
“We’re looking forward to seeing the store continue to grow and serve existing and new customers from across the region.”
Hancocks is the UKs leading confectionery wholesaler with 14 nationwide cash and carry stores and an online channel www.hancocks.co.uk. Customers can shop online 24/7 with delivery to the door or click and collect options.
