One of
Gloucestershire’s most successful family firms, Creed Foodservice, has marked
its 50th year in style, breaking the £100 million turnover barrier.
Founded by Terry Creed and business partner Reg Pitt in the early 1970s, when the pair opened their first Linbar grocers, the business is now a specialist food wholesale firm with an estimated 400 staff.
Today the business, which is headquartered in Staverton, also has distribution centres in Derbyshire and Buckinghamshire and supplies caterers and chefs from hotels, pubs and restaurants to schools, care homes and the likes of the National Trust.
'In our 50th year of training the business hit a key milestone of £100 million turnover, in addition to this we were recognised by Best Companies as being one of the UK's 100 Best Large Companies to Work For,’ said Chris Creed, chief executive officer.
Turnover rose from £63.34 million for the year to 31 December 2022 for the firm, which also includes Brickhampton Court Golf Complex and its restaurant, Nineteen, and counts former international rugby player now restaurateur Phil Vickery as non executive director.
'During the year the business has launched a street food inspired brand called Kitchen'72 which provides caterers with a ready-to-go food solution using simple yet nutritious ingredients to bring popular street-food flavours to the kitchen.
'The results for 2022 demonstrate the resilience of the business with turnover of £101 million and operating profit of £5 million. The business has responded well coming out of the global Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing challenges inflation has brought.'
For Creed Foodservice the'Best Large Companies to Work For’ title was something it is especially proud of. It is a feat it has gone on to repeat again in 2023, ranked 26 in the UK.
'Our business is built on family values and trust, recognising the importance of open, honest and supportive relationships that work for everyone,’ said Creed.
In the Covid-19 pandemic, the firm gave quietly to the FareShare food campaign to help tackle child food poverty, the charity also supported by footballer Marcus Rashford.
Its latest annual report also says in 2022 it donated a further £45,000 in cash and products to local charities and encouraged staff to be involved in charitable causes during the working week.
The biggest challenges on its radar, it said remained inflation — which it expected to continue to rise — and the need to continue to invest to ensure it retained and gained the very best staff it can.
