A food company wants bigger premises and extra key staff to fuel growth.
Harlech Foodservice, based in Criccieth and Chester, has hired a team of headhunters to recruit five senior staff to turbo-charge ambitious expansion plans.
It wants to strengthen the management team to increase turnover to more than £50 million over the next three years.
Part of the strategy includes finding bigger premises in the Chester area as a staging post for further growth in the North West of England.
Managing director David Cattrall wants the new members of the team to be in place in readiness for when the tourism and hospitality industry starts to reopen when Covid lockdown restrictions are eased.
When that happens, Harlech plans to start delivering seven days a week with the introduction of a new Sunday service.
Mr Cattrall, who previously worked in a high-powered role with Booker Wholesale, has embarked on a major restructuring of the company since he was appointed last year.
He said the introduction of “transparent and competitive” pricing on a range of core products had proved popular.
Meanwhile, online sales quadrupled after the website was upgraded and a new app was launched, allied to extending the order window to 10pm.
Mr Cattrall said the quintet of new appointments at Chester and Criccieth were the next step on the journey to drive up turnover and profits.
Mr Cattrall said: “It might appear counter-intuitive to be recruiting people in the middle of a pandemic but we are essentially investing in future expansion. We may not have the same pattern initially but I’m expecting spring/summer to probably give us our 2019 business back and provide a springboard for growth. We want to continue to look after our customers in our North Wales heartland who helped create Harlech Foodservice.
“We have also seen strong growth in the North West of England and North East Wales through companies like Hickory’s Smokehouse, Frederic Robinson pubs and Denbighshire schools.
“As a result, we are currently looking to add a new full service depot in that area as our Gwynedd base is approaching capacity.”
He added: “I am confident there is a lot of pent up demand out there and, with the help of our new high level recruits, we are going to be ready, willing and able to meet that demand so we can fulfil our ambition to be a £50 million company.”
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