Investments in supply chain, technology and improving efficiencies has helped A.F. Blakemore record a 9% increase in sales for the six months to 1 October 2022.
This increase comes on the heels of a 19% year-on-year growth recorded for the 12 months to 1 May 2022.
A.F. Blakemore & Son Ltd chairman, Peter Blakemore, said: “This year our sales have grown by 9% following sales growing by 19% last year. This has been delivered by a robust performance across our core SPAR network and our ability to use opportunities across recovery sectors such as travel and foodservice. We also saw a steady return to growth for the Philpotts chain of prepared-food stores, while enabling an impressive performance from home delivery and quick commerce, where we were pivotal in helping this new channel scale-up.”
According to Blakemore, the opening of its new Bradford depot has helped stock levels and availability, which has been key at a time when the supply chain was under pressure.
“Bedford is the cornerstone of our long-term supply chain strategy and was built and opened during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The development combined with significant labour shortages across the UK, required us to incur an unplanned £17m in our total logistics operation.
“Maintaining a high-level of supply chain performance required us to make a significant investment during this period and as a result, the group delivered a pre-tax loss of £3.3m, down from a pre-tax profit of £6m in the previous year. Underlying pre-tax profit was £2m after exceptional costs but as always, our paramount interest is in ensuring the long-term interests of our customers.”
CEO Jerry Marwood explained that investment in the business has helped its performance over the past six months. “Being an independent business means we can continue to invest even through the most challenging times. The decisions we made in 2021/22 have resulted in stable outbound supply, growth in new format propositions and the successful trial and roll out of our new commercial system.”
Marwood warned that the next 18 months would be tough for the industry.
“Process improvement and investment in technology has also delivered greater efficiency and a corresponding improvement in our base margin, however, given the macro-economic turmoil predicted in the next 18 months, we must continue to be vigilant and work hard to protect our customers interests.”
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