Harlech Foodservice has revealed plans to increase its turnover to £50m in the next three years, as the wholesaler celebrates its 50th birthday.
Founded in 1972, Harlech Foodservice now employs more than 200 staff at sites at Criccieth and Chester while its fleet of lorries and vans delivers over 5,000 product lines to cafés, restaurants, pubs and public sector customers across North and Mid-Wales, Shropshire, the Midlands and the North West.
Chairman Jonathan Foskett said: “It was a small seasonal business when it started but it has grown slowly and steadily over the years until now it operates year round with full-time staff and a fleet of vehicles.
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“The tourism industry was 95% of the original business, supplying hotels, guest houses and holiday and caravan parks across what is now Gwynedd and very much part-time in the winter.
“But once we began taking on contracts with schools and colleges it became a year-round service and we were able to keep staff on full-time and create real quality jobs which have helped the local economy.
Managing director David Cattrall is now in day to day charge of the company’s ambitious new business plan which aims to increase turnover to over £50 million in the next three years.
He said: “We used the time in lockdown to make sure we were ready for the re-opening of tourism and hospitality with a major restructuring which has included quadrupling online sales since upgrading our website and introducing an ‘order up to 10pm for next day delivery’ service.
“We recently visited our loyal customer base to seek feedback which resulted in us introducing seven-day delivery throughout the spring/summer season
“We have built new management teams and invested in our people’s skills to increase our delivery capacity and we are already the reward with three major new contracts across Wales and into England.
“I am confident that by providing an improved range of products at transparent and competitive prices and strengthening our service more and more customers will choose Harlech Foodservice as their supplier.”
