£14m turnover food supplier secures £750,000

A third-generation family-owned food supplier which saw customer demand slump by 85% when the lockdown was announced in March has secured a £750,000 loan.

Walsall-based MKG Foods had to furlough 70 of its staff, with a small team staying in work to service key accounts at care homes and schools.

The CBILS loan will be used to boost cashflow, enabling the business to maintain its overheads and meet obligations to suppliers until schools and businesses reopen fully.

MKG Foods has a turnover of £14m a year and is one of the UK’s leading food suppliers serving care homes, schools, pubs, restaurants and football grounds across the country. It provides chilled and frozen meat, fish, dairy and store cupboard items to businesses which operate catering on their sites.

Philip Mayling, grandson of the firm’s founder and director at MKG Foods, said: “The lockdown affected most of our customers and means that we’ve experienced a much quieter period of operations, but of course we still have overheads and supplier costs to meet, regardless of what income we have coming in. This loan allows us to meet these demands and cover our staff costs.

“Our business has been operating since 1950 and we’ve been financially self-sufficient since then. With Lloyds Bank’s support we’ve been able to maintain our cashflow and focus our attention on the longer-term strategic decisions that will enable our business to bounce back in the coming months.

“As lockdown eases, we’re expecting services to schools, care homes and restaurants to resume – and are looking forward to getting back to business as usual.”

Kevin Roberts, relationship director at Lloyds Bank, said: “Philip and his team are long-standing Lloyds Bank customers and we’ve been proud to support the business over the years. While the reduced demand for services is only temporary, the business still needs to manage its cashflow and cover fixed overheads during this time. We’re glad we’ve been able to help and allow the team to concentrate on providing its essential service to care homes and schools.”

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