Food storage and distribution firm seeks growth after year of disruption

Temperature-controlled food storage and distribution business, Reed Boardall, says it has contended with one of the most difficult years in its 30-year history.

However, the North Yorkshire-based company adds it is now planning for growth, following a period which saw its industry suffer from Covid lockdowns, self-isolating staff, rising labour, fuel and energy costs and the HGV driver shortage.

In the year to March 2022, turnover grew by 6.2% compared with the previous year, rising from £69.8m to £74.1m.

However, in the face of extremely difficult trading conditions, the company sustained a £4.1m loss before taxation. This compares with £705,000 profit in the year ending March 2021.

Marcus Boardall, chief executive, said: “There’s no question that it has again been a very difficult year for the industry.

“Looking to the future, the pandemic disruption appears to be settling, and we are starting to bear the fruits of the proactive initiatives we have undertaken to establish our own in-house team of drivers.

“For example, over the last year, we have trained over 20 new recruits from scratch at our own academy, enabling them to become qualified drivers.”

Boardall added the company’s financial performance was also adversely affected by it being the victim of a criminal cyber-attack, resulting in the firm’s IT systems being out of operation for six days.

He said the costs associated with the interruption, loss of revenue and subsequent recovery, were “substantial.”

“The situation was exacerbated by bad debt as one of our largest transport customers was placed into administration, although the contract has been taken over by a major retailer,” he said.

“Despite all of these factors, we saw store utilisation and turnover increase, and are confident that better times are ahead.

“We have established a strong position in the marketplace and we will continue to prove the success of our single site strategy.”

Finance director, Sarah Roberts, added: “Given the myriad of pressures on the business over the last 12 months, we have once again put in a resilient performance and are pleased to say we are now on a much more even keel.

“Having completed the multi-million pound expansion of one of our cold stores in spring 2021, we have the largest and most modern facility of its kind in the UK. With a capacity of 168,000 pallets, we have continued to see volumes rise since the year end.

“We have also secured additional business in the new financial year and our ability to adapt to an ever-changing industry is enabling us to attract new customers with very specific requirements.”

Based at a55-acre site operation in Boroughbridge, Reed Boardall now has a fleet of 200 vehicles.

It delivers 12,000 pallets of frozen food daily from manufacturers across Britain, Europe and further afield to all the UK’s best-known supermarkets.