Palmer and Harvey

Updated on Dec 05, 2023

Edit

Comment

Type Private/Employee Owned Website palmerharvey.co.uk Number of employees 3,400 Headquarters Hove		Area served United Kingdom CEO Tony Reed (17 Oct 2016–) Founded 1925

Industry Wholesale, Distribution and Retail Key people Tony Reed (chief executive), Martyn Ward (managing director - Wholesale Paul Hagon (Group Strategy and Development Director), Mark Leonard (Group Operations Director), Jon Moxon (group finance director), Noel Robinson (managing director - direct van sales) Parent organization Palmer & Harvey McLane (Holdings) Ltd. Subsidiaries W.H. & H.M. Youngs Limited, WS Retail Limited

Easy order scanner promotional video palmer and harvey 2011

Palmer and Harvey plc (also known as P&H, formerly Palmer & Harvey McLane plc) is a UK-based wholesaler that services the multiples, convenience, forecourt and CTN sectors.

Headquartered in Hove, East Sussex, it is the UK's largest delivered wholesaler, and the 5th largest private company in the UK. It has an annual turnover of £4.5 billion and an integrated national distribution network across 14 sites in the UK. The company was founded in 1925 as a traditional confectionery and tobacco wholesaler. Today, Palmer and Harvey is the UK’s largest wholesaler working with a diverse range of 63,600 retailers. Palmer and Harvey, which employs over 4,000 people, is privately owned by current and former employees.

Business Divisions

Palmer and Harvey has four distinctive business platforms – Distribution, Multiple Retail, Independent Retail and Wholesale. Each is designed to service the specific needs of a broad and varied client base, supplying customers with anything from freshly made sandwiches to shoelaces.

Palmer and Harvey Wholesale and Distribution

Palmer and Harvey Wholesale and Distribution is the UK's largest wholesale distributor, supplying ambient, grocery, chilled and frozen foods, health and home products to a diverse range of retail outlets, including supermarkets, multiple forecourts and convenience store operators. Palmer and Harvey’s customer base includes . Costcutter, Esso, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Welcome Break, Martin McColl (MMRG), Moto and Welcome Break; the key grocery multiples Tesco, Sainsbury’s.

Palmer and Harvey Retail Services

Palmer and Harvey owns WS Retail, a symbol group that operates under the Central Stores banner.The group is based in Ringwood, Hampshire

Palmer and Harvey Direct Ltd

Palmer and Harvey Direct Ltd offers more than 50,000 smaller retailers an opportunity to buy from a range of products through the direct to door van delivery services P&H Snacksdirect, P&H Sweetdirect and P&H Direct.

Company History

Palmer and Harvey underwent management buy outs in 2002 and 2008, the latter led by Chief Executive Chris Etherington in a deal which valued the business at £330m. The equity of Palmer and Harvey is held by current and former employees, a fundamental cornerstone that underpins the company’s culture and structure and has been instrumental in growing turnover to more than £4.5 billion in 2015

Company Timeline

2012 - Palmer and Harvey acquires the Walkers Van sales operation

2011 - Palmer and Harvey release fuel deserts, a research paper that looks into the state of the UK's forecourt industry

2010 - P&H announces record sales of £4.2bn, with a profit of £227,000. CEO Chris Etherington commented on the firms 2010 performance "The market has been much more competitive....People have been giving their margins away."

2009 - P&H Launches Sweetdirect, a direct to store van sales operation selling products from Perfetti Van Melle, Tangerine Confectionery, Weetabix (until July 2012), Kelloggs Cereal Bars (from July 2012), Reckitt Benkiser Medicines, Lindt, Bon Bon Buddies and the Top 25 Chocolate lines in the UK.

2008 - P&H reaches £4bn in turnover; a third management buyout is completed, led by current chief executive, Chris Etherington. The deal, valuing the business at £330m, offers 50% of shares to management and employees

2008 - P&H acquires Leeds-based delivered wholesaler WH & HM Young, a member of the Key Lekkerland Group, with sales of £112m and launches its new Partnership Plus initiative to provide a tailored business growth package to independent and symbol group retailers

2007 - P&H acquires West Country delivered wholesaler T&A Symonds, a member of the Key Lekkerland Group

2006 - P&H wins the supply contract for the CTN chain Northcliffe Retail (supplying 66 company-owned stores and 250 retail partner stores) worth 75m a year; Chris Etherington is appointed as Chief Executive, joining P&H from motor parts wholesaler, Unipart Automotive

2005 - P&H acquires franchise for the Mace symbol group in Scotland from Somerfield, previously operated by Aberness Foods

2002 –P&H unveils its new look to Mace stores under the 21st century Mace design and undergoes a second management buyout

2001 - P&H acquires a 200,000 sq ft (19,000 m²) depot in Crawley, begins supplying to Sainsbury's petrol filling stations and secures a long term distribution with Shell UK Ltd to supply core and noncore food ranges

2000 - P&H purchases YP Electronics, a specialist retail solutions business, acquires Snacksdirect from KP McVities and successfully acquires supplier status to 85 Esso forecourts

1999 - P&H sells theSelect and Save brand name to Larnheath Ltd and acquires Booker Wholesale Foods from Booker plc. The symbol groups Mace and Select and Save are included in this sale, giving P&H control of the symbol group in England and Wales

1999 - P&H sign a long term distribution contract with TM Retail Group and Snowking Foods is merged with the ambient arm of P&H business, supported by a 190,000 sq ft (18,000 m²) multi-temperature depot in Coventry

1998 - P&H launches Your Store to complement the Supershop symbol group. The Supershop fascia is also reinvigorated, leading to a rise in symbol group members

1998 - Pro Retail, P&H's annual trade show, is launched and P&H acquires Winerite, a BWS wholesaler in Yorkshire running 650 BWS product lines

1995 - Mojo Cash & Carry and frozen food distributor Snowking Foods are acquired by P&H. Warehouse and fleet size are both increased

1994 – P&H acquires McLane, the UK offshoot of the mammoth US business

1988 – Sir Don Gosling quits after his divorce, but returns after a management buyout

1959 - Sir Don Gosling becomes a director after he marries Shauna Ingram, a member of the family which owns Palmer & Harvey

1925 – Palmer and Harvey is founded by Archie Stone who buys two wholesale businesses from a Mr Palmer and a Mr Harvey in North London and merges them into one.

References

Palmer and Harvey Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA