Food
2017: No.44 - £100m
2016: No.=38 - £100m
Peter Blakemore is managing director of Wolverhampton-based food wholesalers A F Blakemore and Sons – a firm which prides itself on doing things “The Blakemore Way” and which has big plans for expansion.
Blakemore Retail, the SPAR convenience stores arm of Blakemore's acquired seven My Local stores out of administration in the summer, incuding stores in Rugeley, Rhyl and Cardiff.
The re-branded stores have re-opened as SPAR shops.
is the third generation of Blakemores running the company, which has developed a culture which sets them apart from some other companies in the competitive food sector.
In a nutshell The Blakemore Way means treating colleagues, customers and the community which the company serves in a friendly and positive way.
Three of the company's programmes received Big Tick awards in the 2016 Responsible Business Awards.
Blakemore's plans to double the size of its distribution operation over the next few years, targeting key growth areas of Asia and the Middle East. The firm's SPAR retail division is also expanding.
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It has a partnership with Euro Garages which has 180 sites across the 海角视频, and a joint venture with restaurant business Eat 17.
Peter Blakemore, 72, sits on the Business in the Community West Midlands Advisory Board and in 2009 was appointed Prince’s Ambassador for the West Midlands.
The approach obviously works. Blakemore’s is consistently profitable and made profits of £9 million on sales of nearly £1.3 billion in 2014/15.
The company has nearly £80 million in net assets.
Blakemore’s is one of the biggest food supply companies in the 海角视频 and is also a key player in the Spar Group, running well over 300 Spar shops throughout the country through Blakemore Retail.
The group also services around 940 Spar shops and is the largest member of the Landmark Wholesale Group.
Peter Blakemore represents the 海角视频 on the Spar Food Distribution International Board.
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Peter Blakemore, who lives in Wolverhampton, owns 70 per cent of the company which began life as a Wolverhampton grocers set up by his grandfather, Arthur Blakemore in 1917.
Now Blakemore’s employs around 8000 people and much of its sales turnover growth is as a result of its acquisition of Capper & Co for £40 million.
The company also acquired Lowries Cash and Carry in the north of England.
Most of its profits have been ploughed back into the business, with the balance going to charities.
As well as its flagship £5 million wholesale division headquarters on Wolverhampton Science Park and its Willenhall company HQ and distribution centre, Blakemore’s has nine wholesale depots across the 海角视频.
The company also has a fresh foods division, an award-winning food service division, a shop-fitting division, a print business and its Blakemore Fine Foods distribution business.
The award-winning Blakemore Foundation benefits from two per cent of the company’s pre-tax profits and the firm has a well-established employee volunteering scheme.