THE DERWENT STORY

To fully understand and appreciate our story, you need to understand the visionary entrepreneur behind our Group, Albert Gubay. Born in Wales in 1928, our Founder started his business empire as a penniless young man, selling non-sugar sweets during post-WWll confectionary rationing.

This gradually evolved into market stalls until in the early 1960’s he opened his first grocery shop, Value Foods, which based its innovative business model on aggressive price cutting. This was the basis for his successful Kwik Save Discount chain, in which he sold his shares in 1973 for £14million.

Kwik Save was followed by similar ventures in New Zealand, Ireland and the USA . He then turned his impressive business acumen to property development, primarily in the retail and commercial sectors. He also built up the Total Fitness health club chain, which was sold in 2004 for £70million.

The property companies and portfolios that he founded ultimately became The Derwent Group in 2005. The Derwent Group is now owned by the Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation. The Derwent Group continues its expansion into new areas whilst maintaining a very strong presence in the retail and commercial sectors throughout the North of England.