Minor Weir & Willis has blamed the devaluation of sterling following the Brexit referendum for a dip in turnover and profitability.
Turnover at the fruit and vegetable importer and wholesaler was £149 million in 2016, down from £160.4m the year before, according to accounts filed at Companies House. Pre-tax profits fell from £3m to £2.1m.
Director Sant Mehta said the devaluation of sterling post-referendum was the key reason for the decline. He added: “This resulted in a reduction in our profitability as we experienced higher raw material input prices faster than we were able to achieve compensating revenue increases.”
The most significant development since the accounting period has been the sale of MWW Markets, a wholly-owned subsidiary, on 28 March 2017.
Of the coming year, Mehta said: “The external commercial environment is expected to remain competitive as consolidation in the industry continues, although we remain confident that we will return to a satisfactory level of performance in the future.”
He added that the group has a “loyal workforce and does not experience significant staff turnover or labour relation problems.”
