A fast-growing food wholesaler has landed a £1 million five-year contract with a Shropshire-based company to deliver to schools across a huge area of the West Midlands and Wales.
Harlech Foodservices is now supplying Shire Services, the catering arm of Shropshire County Council, with a wide range of drinks and vending products for primary and secondary schools.
Shire Services provide high-quality catering services not only to schools but also to nurseries, care homes, and further education colleges across Shropshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, and North Wales.
Their comprehensive service also includes food safety advice, compliance consultancy, a range of training courses and concierge assistance.
Harlech, based in Gwynedd in North Wales, this summer opened a new depot in Wellington, near Telford, to enable it to serve the West Midlands area and have based five vehicles and their drivers there and that presence in Shropshire was crucial in winning the contract.
It will see Harlech’s local fleet deliver a range of drinks and vending snacks, including products from Shropshire firm Wenlock Spring, and the company is looking to double the number of drivers and vehicles at its Wellington depot.
Shire Services Area Manager Lauren Moore said:
“We are proud to provide catering services to 118 primary and secondary schools across the West Midlands and North Wales.
“We are passionate about using local suppliers. Harlech Foodservice’s presence in Telford enables us to incorporate local products into our offerings, such as still and sparkling water from Wenlock Spring.
“We are delighted to have Wenlock Spring water on our school menus and even in our office water dispensers, reinforcing our pledge to environmental responsibility and local business support.”
Wenlock Spring are based in Wolverton, near Church Stretton, and the spring that supplies the water filtered through the limestone of Wenlock Edge is mentioned in William the Conqueror’s Domesday Book of 1086.
Alan Souter, National Account Manager for Wenlock Spring, said:
“We are incredibly proud that Wenlock Spring Water will be enjoyed in schools across the region through our partnership with Shire Services and Harlech Foodservice.
“It’s a privilege to contribute to the health and hydration of children while championing locally-sourced products.
“We’re delighted to continue supporting the UK’s network of wholesalers and education caterers with our range of spring water, which is sourced responsibly and packaged in an environmentally-friendly way, as well as working with businesses, such as Harlech, which share similar sustainability values to us.”
David Roberts, Harlech Regional Account Manager, said:
“As a firm with a strong local connection to Shropshire it’s very important to us that the quality and nutritional value of the food and drink in schools is as high as possible and that only the best is used.
“We also aim to use suppliers local to the client wherever possible as that cuts food miles and ensures that the benefits of the contract are shared with the local community.
“We work very closely with Shire Services and our suppliers like Wenlock Spring here in Shropshire and with other clients across Shropshire, the West Midlands, the North West and Wales to ensure that is the case.”
The opening of the new Shropshire depot this summer was spurred by Harlech’s growth over the past three years which has seen sales increase from £32 million to a record turnover of around £50 million with profit at an all-time high of more than £2 million.
One of the major reasons for the growth has been a change of strategy which has seen Harlech win a raft of public sector contracts in health and education, in addition to its core customer base in tourism and hospitality.
So far the £6 million expansion plan has enabled the company to create 75 jobs and Sales Director Mark Lawton said: “This new contract with Shire Services demonstrates not only our range of products and the excellent service we provide but also our commitment to using local suppliers like Wenlock Spring wherever we operate.
Harlech, which has its headquarters near Criccieth in Gwynedd and depots at Wellington, Chester, Merthyr Tydfil and Carmarthen, employs 250 staff and runs a fleet of over 50 vehicles to deliver up to 5,000 product lines to cafés, restaurants, pubs and public sector customers.
