Fresh Direct is predicting further strong growth after increasing both turnover and pre-tax profits in the past year.
The foodservice supplier made a pre-tax profit of £2.73 million, up from £2.56m the previous year, while turnover rose 9.8 per cent to £112.5m.
In a colourful statement accompanying the accounts, managing director David Burns said: “Time flies when you are having fun in a recession-battered year! Despite the challenges, the past 12 months have certainly gone by quickly and we’ve tried to look upon the negatives as a learning curve rather than make huge dramas out of them - this is foodservice, not panto.”
Although the directors conceded that the economic backdrop remains challenging, they believe Fresh Direct is in a strong position within the sector as interim results for the first two quarters of 2011-12 show “a significant improvement on the results for the same period in 2010-11”.
Burns explained: “We have invested massively back into the business and have come out with a more than satisfactory result… We love a bit of anarchy, in the right setting, and so it’s great to have achieved this despite what all common sense and evidence suggests we should do.”
The group has been expanding this past year and although fresh produce remains its “bread and butter”, Burns said “we’re not afraid to change as the marketplace does around us: raw, semi-prepared, cooked frozen - throw it all at us, we’re all over it!” Fresh Direct even launched its own ice-cream business to use seasonal fruit and bespoke customer recipes where possible.
In a further move, Fresh Direct is re-branding and has already launched a new look internally, which will soon be rolled out to customers via its website and a new livery for its fleet of vehicles. Burns said: “What we are keen to get across with the new brand is that fruit and vegetables are our heritage, but we offer than bit bit more now.”
In a further move, Fresh Direct is rebranding and has already launched a new look internally, which will soon be rolled out to customers via its website and a new livery for its fleet of vehicles.
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