Gloucestershire's Creed Catering Supplies to be sold for £70m
Kitwave Group plc, the delivered wholesale business headquarters in Tyne & Wear is to buy the Cheltenham-baded independent foodservice supplier Creed Catering Supplies Limited
Creed's customers span the leisure, hospitality, education and care sectors.
Creed reported revenues of more than £130 million over the last 12 months, and an adjusted operating profit of £8.3 million.
There will be no changes to the Creed depot, operational, sales, head office teams, management team and Board. Chris Creed remains CEO of Creed Foodservice, with Philip de Ternant continuing as Chairman, who will be responsible for the strategic overview and integration into the Foodservice division. Miles Roberts will continue to be Managing Director, running the day-to-day with his current Directors. Philip Creed, the other family member involved in the business, will continue to support the company’s sustainability initiatives.
Chris Creed, CEO of Creed Foodservice, said: “We have been evaluating our plans to take our business to the next stage for some time now and are delighted to be able to share our growth plans.
“Our objectives have always been to keep the Creed name, remain a member of the Country Range Group, secure the right investment and strengthen our infrastructure and capacity to secure our long-term growth; and I’m pleased to say that all these goals have been achieved.
“Creed’s ethos and business approach remain at the heart of our operations. Creed has thrived on family values for over 50 years and our people, culture and values remain woven into the fabric of our extended business. This move strengthens our position within the market, offering the best possible outcome for our business, people and customers.”
Ben Maxted, Chief Executive Officer of Kitwave, said: “Creed has an exceptional heritage and is one of the UK’s leading foodservice wholesalers, so we are delighted to have reached this agreement, which will extend our Foodservice division.
“Strategically, Creed will significantly expand our geographical presence, bridging our operations in the North and South and creating a fully integrated national delivery network. In line with our buy and build strategy, Creed is also expected to significantly enhance the Group’s earnings along with providing material buying, operational and financial synergies.
“We are looking forward to working with Creed’s dedicated and experienced team and excited to see our Foodservice division continue to go from strength to strength.”
Creed' was established 's original family business was founded in 1972 with the first Linear supermarket, but the move into foodservice’ came as the Creed family saw an opportunity to supply caterers in and around the Cotswolds, thus Creed Catering Supplies was founded.
In 1989 the retail supermarkets were sold and the first dedicated foodservice warehouse in Cheltenham was purchased. ‘Creed Foodservice’ was then launched to focus on supplying caterers with a product range across frozen, ambient, chilled, and non-food categories.
In 2009 it opened a purpose-built distribution centre in Derbyshire to extend its geographical coverage and in 2017 it opened a further distribution centre in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.
The company has always played a central role in its home county of Gloucestershire, with its directors and staff actively supporting charities across the region.
