The boss of one of the country’s biggest sandwich makers said his business was building back after the initial shock of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Family-owned Samworth Brothers has four sites making millions of sandwiches and prepared salads for customers up and down the 海角视频.
The £1 billion-plus turnover business also owns Ginsters pasties and Soreen malt loaves as well as Dickinson & Morris and Walkers pork pies and Walkers sausages, among others.
On top of that, it recently extended its stake in the Higgidy quiche, frittata and sausage rolls maker, where it now has a controlling interest.
Speaking from the Melton Mowbray head office – in the Leicestershire town that is the home of traditional British pork pies – chief executive Flor Healy told BusinessLive about the tough process of building back from the overnight crash in “food-to-go” sales following the March 2020 lockdown.
He said the business had bounced back with “limited” job losses over the subsequent 18 months, evn acquiring another sandwich brand while lockdown was at its peak.
Mr Healy said: “2020 was a very turbulent year for Samworth Brothers. At the start of the year we had been well positioned and positive, but then the pandemic blew us off course.
“When it happened we set ourselves three priorities – that at all costs we would try to keep our people safe; that we would protect our reputation to make great food with no short cuts; and because of the crisis and the business being hit incredibly hard, we had to be incredibly cautious with cash.
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“We had a tremendous response from our colleague within the business. Our mission was keep putting food on supermarket shelves and we had hundreds of people at the height of the pandemic coming into work every day to help us do that. We were very proud of the work we did feeding the nation through the crisis.
“We went from having a profitable business to losing significant amounts in April and in May last year. But thanks to the hard work of everyone we were back into profit in the June and July.
“People made huge sacrifices in the work they took on and attendance levels were fantastic.
“We had minimal absenteeism and that was testament to the business feeling safe and everyone wanting to contribute to the great national effort.”
He said as business recovered in the second half of last year Samworth Brothers made a small operating profit – but was unable to turn around an after-tax loss. Turnover, however, remained above the £1 billion mark.
Mr Healy – who oversaw a restructuring of some of its businesses after joining Samworth Brothers in early 2018 – said they had furloughed 2,500 of the 10,000-strong workforce at the start of the pandemic.
He said: “We have four bakeries making food-to-go and closed one in Leicester for something like 10 or 12 weeks, and went to a single shift in Melton.
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“Sales of food-to-go were down to about 40 per cent of normal.”
But he said the Ginsters business and savoury pasty and meat businesses fared better, with strong sales through the spring and summer of 2020 after a few weeks of inevitable “flux”.
He said: “Overall our sales were down about 10 per cent in the year and I think we have more than recovered this year.
“There was a lot of goodwill from everyone in the business – everyone was positive and stoical and colleagues responded to every crisis that we faced, and everyone pulled together.
“It was Samworth Brothers at its best.
“I think the business is coming out of the pandemic feeling positive and in a better shape that when it went in.
“We have adopted new ways of working and the business is fit for the future and I’m optimistic for the next few years.
“Job losses have been very limited and the vast majority of the 2,500 that we furloughed have come back. There are a few people with health conditions still on furlough leave.”
In July Samworth announced that it had sold the brands and assets of its sports nutrition business Sci-Mx to Supreme Imports, in Manchester.
Sci-Mx, a specialist in sports products such as protein bars and powders, was bought by Samworth Brothers in 2015, but Mr Healy said it had not had a great market position under them.
He said there were 25 people involved and the vast majority stayed with the broader group in other roles.
Elsewhere, Samworth Brothers repurposed an old production site to make vegan products such as meatballs, sausages and burgers for a new brand called Revolution Kitchen.
Some 150 people are now working within that operation.
He said: “It’s a very exciting sector and we would hope to get towards £20 million in sales this year and into £30 million-plus next year.”
The wider group also bought the Urban Eat food-to-go brand of sandwiches, wraps, deli and street food, out of administration at the height of the pandemic.
Its products are aimed at workplaces, railway stations, healthcare and universities and it has now been relaunched, after an investment of several million pounds, with “Samworth Brothers quality”.
Money was also put into Ginsters and Soreen, he said, and the group was putting capital into the popular Higgidy business, in West Sussex.
Higgidy has around 300 staff based in Shoreham-by-the-Sea, and a £30-£40 million turnover, and was growing “ahead of the market”.
Samworth Brothers operates around 240 trucks with its own drivers, travelling the length and breadth of the country every day.
Summing up the impact of the national HGV driver shortage Mr Healy said: “We are seeing the supply chain stressed, and every week finding issues. One week it is affecting chicken, and the next mayonnaise of bread.
“It has not impacted dramatically but makes it challenging to hit service levels.
“There are stresses but in terms of our own drivers we are lucky to have our own distribution centre in Leicester.
“Our drivers have been loyal and we’ve managed to keep our trucks on the road and keep supplying customers to the standard they expect. The reason they are loyal is that we treat them very well with sick pay, pensions and good terms and conditions.
“We are recruiting though. I’m sure some have colleagues gone back to the EU through the pandemic and along with the limited number of HGV driving tests available through the pandemic it has created a squeeze, but we are lucky to have our own driving school.”
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