Newyddion

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. .

The growth follows the wholesaler winning over £1m in public contracts this autumn, and opening two new depots this year, in Telford and Carmarthen.

A “raft of new contracts” ranging from supplying schools, care homes and colleges in Shropshire, Herefordshire and Cheshire, to school contracts worth £500,000, had contributed to the progress, Harlech said.

“Cutting food miles and employing local people at local bases is a key factor in gaining contracts in the public sector and so is providing a flexible and efficient service and that’s something we pride ourselves on,” said Harlech Foodservice sales director Mark Lawton.

“We now have a real presence throughout Wales and across the border into the north west from our base in Chester and into the Midlands from Telford, and I know that opening these new bases has been key in signing these new deals.

“We are flexible so we can provide our national account customers like local authorities with the best price along with consistency and quality of service while also working with them on social and community benefit and environmental factors.”

The company had around 200 employees during the year to 30 July, according to its accounts.

Harlech Foodservice staff dropped in at Cilymaenllwyd Care Home, at Pwll, near Llanelli, bearing gifts of tasty treats and wearing Flower Power era hippie gear.

It was all a bit of fun and a thankyou to the care home who have been one of the first to sign up as customers for the fast-growing Gwynedd-based company which has recently opened South Wales distribution centres in Carmarthen and Merthyr.

Harlech Regional Sales Manager for South Wales Nick Sullivan and his team got into the spirit of the event and he said: “It’s been a lot of fun and I think the residents and staff at Cilymaenllwyd really enjoyed it.

“It was our way of saying thank you for their faith in us because we believe that in Wales customers like the idea of using a Welsh supplier who have a belief in using products from Wales whenever possible.

“That’s what Harlech believe in and why not because Wales is recognised for producing some of the finest food in the country.

“The tasty snacks we brought along for the residents certainly went down a treat and we all had a great day together.

“We were there for over three hours and had a lot of fun and afterwards one of the residents said, ‘It’s been the best day – when are you coming back’.”

Care Home Manager Vicky Richards said: “It was a fantastic afternoon. It was really good fun and the residents loved it.

“The staff from Harlech were great. They did karaoke and played Velcro-tennis and the interaction between them and the residents was very good and they served up mocktails and some tasty treats which everyone enjoyed.

“We switched suppliers to Harlech a few weeks ago and the service has been excellent and they’ve been very attentive and Nick has sorted out any issues very quickly.”

Harlech Foodservice, which has its headquarters near Criccieth, in Gwynedd, and also has bases in Merthyr Tydfil, Carmarthen and Chester, has landed a £700,000, 12-month agreement to supply grocery products to schools and care homes in Rhondda Cynon Taf.

They hope this is the first of many new deals with South Wales authorities and in North Wales they have also retained a major £1.5 million contract to supply schools and care homes in Gwynedd.

Harlech has also taken over rivals Celtic Foodservices in Pembroke Dock in Pembrokeshire as part of its ongoing expansion in South Wales.

Gavin Davies, South Wales Account Manager, from Gelli, near Treorchy, went to school in Rhondda Cynon Taf, at Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhondda, and joined Harlech from wholesale giants Bidfood last year.

He said: “I’m delighted that our first schools contract is right on my doorstep as we’ll be supplying my old school as well as all the schools across Rhonda Cynon Taf along with care homes and theatres.

“We’re now the primary supplier for drinks, school-compliant confectionery and snacks and a secondary supplier for other products and we’ve won the contract through being accepted onto the Welsh Procurement Services Framework which has been very important for us.

“We supply Welsh products whenever possible and major drinks suppliers include Radnor Springs while our range also include other snacking products, including cake bars and biscuits which are all school-compliant with reduced sugar.

“There is a genuine customer need for another Welsh wholesaler in South Wales and there are other public sector bodies wanting to talk to us.

“Having depots in Merthyr and Carmarthen definitely helps us . They’ve been a game changer for us.

“It’s a massive opportunity for us and it’s been a very good career move for me.” The opening of the new Carmarthen depot this spring 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 was 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.

Over the next three to five years the £6 million expansion plan will enable the company to create 100 jobs at its headquarters site and 50 jobs elsewhere.

The firm’s Sales Director, Mark Lawton, said: “This new contract in Rhondda Cynon Taf will enable us to demonstrate the range of products we can supply and the excellent service we provide.

“We now have a real presence right across Wales and I know the Welsh public sector has a desire to using Welsh suppliers whenever commercially possible.” Between its four sites Harlech 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 across the whole of Wales, Shropshire, the Midlands and the North West.

Harlech Foodservice has a new £1.5 million contract to provide schools in Gwynedd with a range of products including Welsh beef – following up it’s first Gwynedd contract which was signed in 2022 – as well as landing a £700,000, 12-month agreement to supply schools and care homes in Rhondda Cynon Taf.

Harlech, which has its headquarters near Criccieth, in Gwynedd, and a base in Chester, has also added new depots in Merthyr Tydfil and Carmarthen and taken over rivals Celtic Foodservices in Pembroke Dock in Pembrokeshire.

The move is part of an overall £6 million plan to create 150 new jobs as part of a major expansion and they hope the Rhondda Cynon Taf deal will be the first of many.

The Gwynedd contract covers all the schools in Gwynedd, including Ysgol Llanystumdwy – where Prime Minister David Lloyd George was a pupil – just down the road from Harlech’s HQ.

There head cook Alison Green and the 28 pupils have given the Harlech service the thumbs up with Alison, whose son attended the school, saying: “It’s a lovely school and it’s like a family here because you get to know all the children and they know you.

“I even get to go on all the school trips and I pack the lunches for them – it’s great that we’ve got a local company supplying us from literally just up the road so the deliveries are great.”

Councillor Menna Trenholme, Head of Procurement for Gwynedd Council, said: “It’s very important to us as a Council and to the parents to have a local firm supplying our schools with local produce wherever possible and it’s very important for the local economy as well.

“As a Councillor and as the mum of two small children it’s very important to me that we know that all our children are having a healthy and free meal in school every day.”

Harlech Account Manager for Gwynedd Ursula Scurrah-Price added: “It’s great that the closest school to our headquarters is supplied by us.

“Now that free schools meals are available to all pupils we would like to encourage as many as possible to take them up.

“As a North Wales firm it’s very important to us that the quality and nutritious value of the meals in schools is as high as possible and that only the best quality is used and we work closely with Gwynedd and other councils to ensure that is the case.”

Harlech now have contracts with all six North Wales councils to supply schools and they hope the Rhondda Cynon Taf deal will be the first of many with South Wales authorities.

The opening of the new Carmarthen depot this spring following the opening of their first in South Wales in Merthyr last year 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.

Over the next three to five years the firm’s £6 million expansion plan will enable the company to create 100 jobs at its headquarters site and 50 jobs elsewhere. It has been a change in 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.

The firm’s Sales Director, Mark Lawton, said: “The renewal of the Gwynedd contract and our first major public sector deal in South Wales with Rhondda Cynon Taf Council enables us to demonstrate the range of products we can supply and the excellent service we provide.

“We now have a real presence right across Wales and I know the Welsh public sector has a desire to using Welsh suppliers whenever commercially possible.” Between its five sites – a new Telford site opened this summer to service the English border counties - Harlech 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 across the whole of Wales, Shropshire, the Midlands and the North West.

Food distribution giants Harlech Foodservice, who supply Denbighshire schools during term time, delivered the ingredients and the pupils of Ysgol Borthyn in Ruthin produced the pizzas.

They were given dough to roll out before the spread tomato sauce and then added a selection of tasty ingredients before adding a cheesy topping.

The children – and their Food and Fun supervisors, teaching assistants Marian Chambers, Nic Minshull and Fiona Royles - enjoyed getting hands-on with the ingredients.

Megan, aged 5, said: “It’s been good. I’ve loved coming to school for Food and Fun” and James, eight, said: “I love spaghetti but I like pizza too.”

Marian said: “Food and Fun has been running for three weeks into the summer holidays and the children have really enjoyed it – we’ve had about 40 of them here most days.

“We have had plenty of activities including an Olympics themed day with flags of different nations, an Olympic torch and a relay race.

“It’s part of a Welsh Government scheme and the children have breakfast and lunch here and they get the chance to try new and different food as part of a healthy eating programmeand they take part in physical activities as well.

“They go home after lunch but some of them have been asking if they can stay all day because they’ve enjoyed it so much.

“A lot of them have tried food they’ve never had before – some of them have never had pizza – and they also have salads and fruit.”

Harlech Foodservice’s Ursula Scurrah-Price and Britney Loughborough, the Local Account Manager who organises the orders for Ysgol Borthyn and other local schools, hospitals and businesses, oversaw the event and the delivery of the ingredients.

Ursula said: “This is part of the work we are doing with schools across North Wales this summer and at a number of schools we have been providing pizza-making sessions to give the children a taste for making food.

“It’s such a healthy thing to do and helps them learn about the value of good food and the pleasure you can get not just from eating it but from preparing it too. “It helps them learn about the value of good, healthy ingredients and we have included at least one vegetable in each pizza and ensured they have the right kind of cheese, mozzarella.

“It’s also important to learn about the right use of quantities – we don’t want too much tomato. No-one wants a soggy bottom.”

“It’s so important for young people to learn about the value of good food at an early age and to understand and enjoy preparing healthy and tasty meals and hopefully it encourages the whole family to get involved.”

The Welsh wholesaler is collaborating with haulage company Farralls, with operations to take place in a designated area of the haulier’s new Telford site.

The collaboration was prompted by a “chance meeting” between Harlech MD David Cattrall and Farralls MD Matthew Farrall.

The move is in line with the wholesaler’s £6m expansion plan, which saw Harlech open two new sites in South Wales in the past 12 months.

“David mentioned that we were looking for a new base in that area, and it turned out that Farralls had just opened a new site in Telford and there was spare capacity,” said Harlech head of operations Ian Evans.

“They’ve agreed that we can use the site as a base to work from and initially we will employ five drivers there along with another driver here in Criccieth.

“Both businesses are expanding and have ambitions to grow in the same areas so it makes sense to work together.

“Farralls are operating in different parts of the country and it makes sense to work together so we can serve our customers better from what is a new gateway to the West Midlands,” he added.

Princes Gate bottled water from Pembrokeshire, samosas and Indian delicacies from SamosaCo of Pontyclun, bread from Jones Village Bakery in Wrexham and Jones Crisps from Gwynedd are just some of the Welsh products stocked courtesy of Harlech.

The company, based near Criccieth in Gwynedd has embarked on a £6 million expansion and has added new bases in Merthyr Tydfil and Carmarthen to target contracts right across Wales. .

Key Account Manager Laura Griffiths clinched the deal with Cardiff Airport and she said: “We are supplying lines with a real Welsh flavour and provenance for the 51° Lounge at Cardiff Airport which is a really prestigious contract for us. .

“It means customers from around the world are getting a real taste of Wales with top quality products from across the country. .

“It’s very much a Welsh first policy there and we can offer that range of food and drink from Wales and back it up with a top quality service with flexible delivery when they want it from our new depots in Merthyr and Carmarthen.” .

Cardiff Airport is the national airport for Wales, providing economic benefit, jobs, and ensuring global connectivity. .

Earlier this year the airport announced Icelandic low-cost carrier PLAY airlines is providing direct flights to Keflavík this autumn, allowing customers to travel onwards to New York, Boston, Baltimore, Washington, and Toronto. .

Lee Smith, Head of Business Development at Cardiff Wales Airport, said: “Our new partnership with Harlech means our customers are benefiting from quality Welsh products at Cardiff Wales Airport. .

“We’re really proud of our 51°Executive Lounge and its locally produced offerings. Our customers regularly tell us they love the food and beverage options available. .

“We look forward to our passengers enjoying a taste of Wales before they jet off on their travels from Cardiff.” .

Harlech Managing Director David Cattrall added: “Having bases in Merthyr and Carmarthen is a key part of our £6 million growth plan and give us a strong presence right across Wales and enables us to compete for contracts throughout the country. .

“We now see Cardiff and South Wales generally as an area which we are very well set up to serve and be competitive in and being able to offer Welsh products is important to us and to our customers. .

“Harlech Foodservice is a proudly Welsh company and opening depots in Merthyr and Carmarthen means we can now serve the whole of the nation with the same level of high quality service, allied to fantastic products at hugely competitive prices.” .

Harlech operate from bases at Criccieth, in Gwynedd, Chester, Merthyr Tydfil, Carmarthen and Talford and between the five locations, the company has increased employment to 250 staff and is running a fleet of over 50 vehicles to deliver up to 5,000 product lines to cafés, restaurants, pubs and public sector customers across the whole of Wales, Shropshire, the Midlands and the North West. .