Continued successful development

Boughey Distribution is a leading consolidator of ambient grocery products to UK supermarkets with over 1,000,000ft² of warehousing and significant distribution assets.

Food

The business operates in a competitive supply chain and needs to continually demonstrate the value and service that it provides to food manufacturers and importers. The business has a leading position in consolidating ambient grocery products in the North West, with high service levels, industry leading systems and a strong operating performance being the key components of its customer proposition.

Visit the food website

Food delivered a strong performance improvement as a result of increased outloads and associated backhaul work, fully utilised warehouses throughout the year and improved efficiency levels.

Angela Carus, Managing Director, Food

Our strategy

  1. Optimise the customer mix
  2. Optimise storage and distribution solutions on the Wardle and Crewe sites
  3. Crewe – a centre of excellence
  4. Total capacity 135,000 pallet spaces
  5. Value added niche businesses
  6. E-fulfilment
  7. Palletline
  8. Targeting step-change expansion backed by customer and retailer contracts

785

people

122,000

pallets stored

144

trucks

320

trailers

Our Food locations

  1. Wardle
  2. Crewe

Review of the year

Food delivered a strong performance improvement as a result of increased outloads and associated backhaul work, fully utilised warehouses throughout the year and improved efficiency levels. Delivering a high level of service and operating efficiently has supported the division in both passing through inflationary cost increases and winning additional business from existing and new customers in the year. Labour turnover has reduced and we are fully resourced for both drivers and warehouse staff. A focus of the team has been on non-financial initiatives including healthcare and wellbeing to improve retention levels.

Revenue increased by 13.3% to £70.9 million (2022: £62.6 million). Storage overall was at an average of 122,000 pallets (2022: 118,000 pallets), with warehouses effectively utilised across the year. Demand for our customers’ products increased in spite of the cost-of-living crisis. Retailers have reported stable demand for ambient grocery and demand has particularly increased from the discounters winning business from the higher priced retailers. Outloads were 7% higher than prior year whilst storage levels were up 3%, highlighting a positive overall increase in the stock turn of our customers’ products.

Expansion opportunities

New business has been gained from existing and new accounts to the extent that overflow warehousing is being utilised over the summer peak period. We continue to evaluate opportunities to further expand the warehouse base backed by customer contracts.

Headline operating profit was £4.2 million (2022: £2.8 million). Whilst the packing room increased activity strongly in the year and e-fulfilment was stable, it was not sufficient to offset a reduction in Palletline contribution which suffered as hauliers used their own vehicles more as a result of lower overall economic activity and reduced network throughput.

Demand for our customers’ products continues to be stable and the outlook for most product categories handled by the business is resilient. The business operates in a competitive supply chain and needs to continually demonstrate the value and service that it provides to food manufacturers and importers. We have a leading position in consolidating ambient grocery products in the North West, with high service levels, industry leading systems and a consistent operating performance being the key components of its customer proposition.

Market trends and responses

Significant inflation in the food supply chain

Inflation in the food supply chain has been well publicised and it has been critical that we operate efficiently and continue to provide a great level of service, which we have demonstrated in the last year. We have been subject to numerous sources of input inflation with wages, insurance rates, energy and fleet all increasing in costs. We have been successful in passing these inflationary costs through to our Food customers as we have been able to demonstrate a high level of service throughout the year and remain very competitive in a market where managing inflation is a key challenge. We have an escalator in our contracts for fuel costs which passes through increases or falls to our customers.

Availability of labour

We have been successful in recruiting and retaining our staff, with labour turnover reducing in the year. There has been an intentional focus on non-financial elements including healthcare provision and a wellness programme along with Christmas hampers and Easter eggs for all staff supported by a chocolate customer. In addition, we paid a one-off bonus in January to lower paid colleagues to support them through the challenges of the increasing cost of living. Positively, we have a full complement of warehouse staff and have a small waiting list for people wanting to join us as HGV drivers.

Danny Earp
Warehouse Operations Director

Skilled for growth

Depth of experience

Shortly after leaving school, Danny took a temporary role as an office clerk at Boughey in 2004, which, based on his great attitude and commitment to the job, soon became a permanent position. Danny has just completed his 19th year with the business and is looking forward to the future with NWF.

Q. Tell us about your career with NWF

A. After a few months as an office clerk where I learned about the business’ systems and processes, I was promoted to Night Shift Supervisor. This was a steep learning curve for me, being in my early 20s with only a small amount of experience and suddenly managing a team of ten people. I quickly learnt how to run the shift and the depot for those night periods, earning the trust of my team. After three exciting years I was moved to a larger warehouse, and my team was increased to 25. At this stage the business had decided to implement a new ERP system, and, having an aptitude for systems, I was seconded to work on this project full time in 2012. This was one of the most challenging but fulfilling times of my career, as I was involved in the full lifecycle of the project from design to training to go live. The project was a success with a smooth transition to the new system. Following this, I identified the requirement for an IT Manager within the business, and moved into that role, leading a team of technical IT experts.

I did the IT role for three years, and was offered the opportunity to begin my development to Warehouse Operations Director, which I achieved in 2017. My role covers a variety of areas from warehouse to IT, and my team now comprises almost 450 colleagues.

Q. You’ve been with NWF for a number of years; what is it that keeps you here?

A. As I’ve gained experience within the business, I’ve always felt that I’ve been enhancing my professional and personal development, and when the opportunity has arisen, I’ve been successful in being promoted. I’ve had a number of mentors who have championed me as I’ve progressed my career, and I’m keen to nurture talent within the Food business. The business has gone through a lot of positive change in the last few years, but the people and their enthusiasm have remained the same.

We have a strong people focus, and that extends to our community, where we are involved in a number of initiatives, from sponsoring the local food festivals, to supporting local schools with visits and information.

Q. What are your key achievements?

A. In 2017 I received the award from the UK Warehousing Association for Warehouse Manager of the Year, which followed on from my team receiving the Team of the Year award in 2014. I was really proud of both of these achievements, which were testament to the hard work and dedication shown by my team and me. I also successfully completed my MBA in 2020, which was supported by the business and funded by the apprentice levy, giving me new skills which I’ve utilised as we’ve been building our new five-year strategy, which we are about to embark upon and should be an exciting period of growth for the business.

Another achievement was opening our Crewe warehouse in the middle of the pandemic, and I’m really proud that across our sites I’ve been able to optimise the operational efficiency in a complex warehouse environment. We have a diverse portfolio of customers, and being able to understand their requirements and translate those into an effective logistic solution is at the heart of what I do on a day-to-day basis.