FWD names Bestway’s Dawood Pervez as its new chairman

The FWD has named Bestway Wholesale’s managing director Dawood Pervez as its new chairman.

He will succeed Coral Rose, CEO of Fairway Foodservice, in January and will become the 61st person to head the trade association in its 104-year history.

An FWD Council member since 2018, Pervez (pictured) wants to see the social and economic contribution of the wholesale sector broadcast to an even wider audience.

“People need to understand the role and the importance of wholesale and how big it is,” he says. “FWD’s main purpose – and it does this very well – is to represent the full the interests of wholesalers, providing a voice for what is actually a very broad church. We rely on FWD to represent our common interests to government and suppliers, to potential new recruits into the sector, and to the media.

“The story we want them to hear is such a compelling one. Between the members of FWD, we provide vital supply lines to the UK’s fundamental services like schools, prisons, hospitals and care homes. We ensure that remote communities, urban neighbourhoods and people with limited mobility have a nearby source of food and drink. We supply small businesses that provide tailored offers for their communities and competition in their markets and support them with our knowledge gained from working with thousands like them.”

He continues: “With a combined turnover of £31 billion, we’re a significant industry. The public spend £48.1 billion a year on food and drink in outlets supplied by FWD members. We’re far bigger than we’re perceived to be by government, the public and even the suppliers we work with – we spend £25 billion on their products, and open the doors to over 400,000 points of contact with consumers.

“We directly employ 83,000 people in full-time equivalent jobs, spread evenly across the country, and our activities generate a further 283,000 jobs up and down the supply chain.

We contribute £662 million to the Exchequer, with a gross added value to the UK economy of £3.4 billion.

“Food and drink wholesale is big business, it contributes to the essential fabric of our society, it creates employment, and it pays its taxes.”

Pervez will encourage FWD members to participate in work in three areas: Planet, Talent and Trade, covering sustainability, recruitment and development, and helping suppliers to understand the opportunity the wholesale channel offers for their brands.

His appointment brings a more retail wholesale focus to the top job after six years of chairmen from foodservice distributors. Departing chairman Coral Rose, who will remain on the FWD Council, said: “I wish Dawood the best of luck, and would like to thank the FWD team for all the incredible things they have achieved during my term in the hot seat.”