Profits up 60% as Seabrook Crisps takes a bite out of competition
SEABROOK CRISPS has continued its transformation with a second year of strong improvements in its profitability.
Pre-tax profits jumped 60% to £1.83m on the back of an 11% increase in sales, to £27.2m, in the year to March 29.
New products, including its straight cut crisps and lattice sharing products, have contributed to the brand’s increased penetration into households and ultimately to its increased profitability.
The two consecutive years of profitable performance followed three loss-making periods in 2011-13, which included a loss of £1.78m in the year to October 2011.
Its transformation has been driven by chief executive Jonathan Bye who joined the existing 150 staff at the Bradford group in July 2012. He led the £35m management buyout this summer, backed by LDC, which ended eight decades of ownership by the founding Brook family.
The investment will support Seabrook as it looks to invest in its manufacturing infrastructure, new product development and progress international sales opportunities. In addition, the team has identified a number of potential acquisition targets.
The company began when Charles Brook founded a fish and chip shop in Bradford in 1939, and, due to a misheard “C Brook”, the name Seabrook was born. When his son, Colin, returned from service in World War II they created the first packet of Seabrook’s crisps, and the business had remained in the family as it grew.
