About us

Rippleglen was established in 1979. The first shop was situated in Cotteridge, Birmingham and the business has grown to a thriving group of over 156 newsagents shops located in towns and city centres and bus stations throughout England & Wales.

The shops mainly trade under four different fascias; Arden News, Supernews, Supercigs & Candies. The Arden News fascias include the specialist bus station shops. These shops have distinctive signage incorporating the legend 'First Stop...Arden News' and their aim is to provide a service tailor made for the travelling public. Supernews and Arden News are specialist newsagent shops and carry a broad range of magazines, newspapers, confectionery, minerals, crisps, tobacco, lottery and mobile telephone top-ups. The shops are located in shopping centres and high streets or adjacent to bus and railway stations. The shops carry specialist magazines for most interest categories and new publications are added regularly.

Soft drinks and mineral waters have become an important part of product range in our shops and in partnership with GlaxoSmithKline, we are developing our product range to suit the changing needs of customers.

We specialise in fast & friendly service and strive to provide optimum availability of products within the range. Experience tells us that our customers are always in a hurry, and there is nothing more irritating to them than dashing into a shop only to find it out of stock of their favourite product!

We pride ourselves on being innovators and have established a blue print of customer needs and wants. Our customers don't want groceries, nor do they want big bulky items. They want newspapers, magazines, self treats and snacks. They also want to play the lottery and to top up mobile phones. The majority of our shops have PayPoint facilities; this offers customers a convenient opportunity to pay household bills.

Customers need space to move around the shop. We appreciate the number of mothers with pushchairs and people with a variety of disabilities who regularly use our shops. They require extra help and space to enjoy shopping. Our staff are trained and shops are designed for customers in a hurry and for people with special needs. Whilst we endeavour to embrace 21st century ideas we also appreciate what our customers want and we try, whenever space permits, to stock a range of pick 'n' mix products. Our customers certainly appear to enjoy the difference.

In terms of branch numbers Rippleglen is now the second largest CTN business in the UK, employing around 1,000 people. It has a semi-national presence with a concentration of stores, trading under the Arden News, Supernews and Supercigs fascias, in the Midlands, North West, Yorkshire and North and South Wales.

Rippleglen was established in 1980 by Harry Medcalf after he left Mars the international confectionery company. His aim was to create a business containing 25 shops within 10 years. By the start of 1990, he had opened 26, but an acquisition in May that year increased the number of shops to 52 – more than double his original target just one month before it expired.

Further acquisitions followed including the purchase of the Buckle Group in 1996, which helped the business to develop its presence in Leeds, taking shop numbers to 80. In 2004 Rippleglen completed its largest deal when it acquired 120 shops from Tesco following its disposal of non-core assets after its acquisition of T&S Stores.

Rippleglen Limited acquired Northcliffe Retail Limited on 30^th June 2007.

The acquisition of Northcliffe Retail Limited now renamed to Eastcliffe News Shops takes the company’s turnover to more than £100 million in the next financial year.

Northcliffe Retail was established in 1978. Its 49 outlets are situated throughout Leicestershire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and South Lincolnshire, trading under the Mercury News Shops, Post News Shops and Telegraph News Shops fascias.