A fast-growing Welsh food distribution company is to open a new Shropshire depot as it plans its expansion into England’s West Midlands.
A chance meeting between David Cattrall, Managing Director of Harlech Foodservice, and Matthew Farrall, who heads major North-Wales-based haulier Farrall’s has led to the deal.
It will see Harlech, founded in 1972 by Colin and Gill Foskett, from Wellington, in Shropshire, operate in an area of Farrall’s new site in Telford in Shropshire and give them a foothold in an area they have identified as ripe for growth.
It is part of an ambitious expansion programme which has seen the Criccieth-based business open two new sites in South Wales in the past 12 months, in Merthyr Tydfil last year and Carmarthen earlier this year where 15 sales staff and drivers have already been recruited and snap up rivals Celtic Foodservices, based in Pembroke Dock in Pembrokeshire.
The Telford opening is part of a £6 million plan to create 150 new jobs and has been fired by the company’s growth over the past three years which has seen sales increase from £32 million to a record £50 million and profits of more than £2 million.
Ian Evans, Harlech’s Head of Operations, said: “At that meeting David mentioned that we were looking for a new base in that area and it turned out that Farrall’s had just opened a new site in Telford and there was spare capacity.
“They’ve agreed that we can use the site as a base to work from and initially we will employ five drivers there along with another driver here in Criccieth.
“Both businesses are expanding and have ambitions to grow in the same areas so it makes sense to work together.
“Farrall’s are operating in different parts of the country and it makes sense to work together so we can serve our customers better from what is a new gateway to the West Midlands.
“Both companies have shared values, we are both transitioning towards net zero and both have ambitions to grow so it makes sense to work together.
“Initially we are basing five lorries there but as opportunities to grow occur we could have a greater presence.”
Farrall’s are based on the Deeside Industrial Estate and Managing Director Matthew Farrall said: “We are constantly looking for new markets and new areas to operate in and in the last 18 months we have added sites in Newport in South Wales and Sandycroft on Deeside and in November in Telford.
“This is a relatively new area for us but we see its potential and there is spare capacity on the site which we’re happy to partner with Harlech.
“We believe in forging partnerships with other businesses to the benefit of both and that is the case here – we are both in the distribution business but not in competition so this makes sense.
“We share many of the same business principles as Harlech – both companies are growing and at the same time are committed to reducing their carbon footprint in sectors where that isn’t easy to do but we have both taken steps to do so.
“Partnership working is a positive which can benefit both companies and this is something we can continue as both look to grow their markets.”
Harlech operate from bases at Criccieth, in Gwynedd, Chester, Merthyr Tydfil and now Carmarthen and between the four locations, the company has increased employment to 250 staff and is running a fleet of vehicles to deliver up to 5,000 product lines to cafés, restaurants, pubs and public sector customers across the whole of Wales, Shropshire, the Midlands and the North West.
