Caterfood Buying Group appoints Tom Workman as commercial director

Caterfood Buying Group has appointed Tom Workman as commercial director.

Tom Workman (left) and Phil Atyeo.

Workman was previously director of trading at Creed Foodservice, where he worked for six-and-a-half years. Before that he was at AF Blakemore for two years, latterly as vending & retail contracts commercial manager. He has also worked as a buyer at DCS.

In his new role, Workman joins Phil Atyeo, managing director of Caterfood Buying Group, at a crucial time in the group’s development: he will be focusing on supporting the group’s expansive future plans, ensuring that it remains easy for suppliers to work with as it continues to develop.

Workman will also oversee Caterfood’s development of own-brand and premium ranges, and the integration of future acquisitions for purchasing and marketing.

He commented: “The Caterfood Buying Group already has some of the best-in-class and most innovative foodservice businesses within the industry, supported by a fantastic and hugely-talented central team. The potential and ambition of the group is second to none and I’m hugely excited about joining at this key point in the Caterfood journey.

“My goal is to be relentless in putting in place all of the structures required to support the group’s future plans. There’s also a great deal of opportunity to use the scale of the Caterfood Buying Group to further enhance knowledge sharing and best practice throughout our seven, unique businesses, each of which have brilliant qualities, people and customers, whilst protecting their respective independence and heritage.”

Atyeo added: “The group is going from strength to strength, and to achieve our ambitious plans – to be one of the biggest buying groups in the UK within five years – we need the best team behind us.

“Tom Workman has a fantastic track record, experience and knowledge of this industry, combined with tremendous passion and determination to help push the group forward. I know Tom will hit the ground running and make a big impact for Caterfood Buying Group as our commercial director. His knowledge and experience from independent wholesale will be invaluable to the Caterfood Buying Group.”

There are currently seven companies which make up the Caterfood Buying Group: Caterfood South West, South Lincs Foodservice, Cimandis (based in the Channel Islands), Nichol Hughes (based in Wales), Elite Fine Foods, Harvest Fine Foods and Thomas Ridley Foodservice. The group was created in 2019 and is owned by Bidcorp.