Harlech Foodservice to open new depot in Carmarthen

Harlech Foodservice is to open a new depot at Carmarthen as part of a £6 million expansion plan. The new premises will be open by Easter.

The wholesaler, which has other bases in Criccieth, Chester and Merthyr Tydfil, will be creating a total of 150 new jobs, with 15 of them at the new site.

Harlech has already appointed Nick Sullivan as regional sales manager for the patch. He joined the company from Bidfood where he was head of sales for Bidvest Foodservice. In total he spent 23 years with Bidfood.

Harlech is also in the process of recruiting five field sales staff and nine drivers to work in the area.

Opening the new Carmarthen depot was spurred by the company’s growth over the past three years – it has seen sales increase from £32 million to around £50 million, with profit at an all-time high of more than £2 million.

According to Harlech, the expansion is being driven by the growing demand from customers in South West Wales, particularly in the hospitality sector. Managing director David Cattrall said that the company is keen to respond to the challenges faced by hotels, pubs and restaurants with next-day deliveries and ‘aggressively competitive’ prices.

He commented: “Harlech are disrupting the established way foodservice companies operate by changing the common practice of inflated list prices and increasing ‘negotiated’ prices without notice by offering transparent and competitive prices and excellent service to all our customers.

“As part of our ‘Trust our Prices’ campaign, we also guarantee that the prices of around 200 lines are locked in for several months.

“We understand how unpredictable trade can be for our customers so they can order up to 10pm, once their service has finished, and we deliver to premises the following day, up to six days a week, enabling chefs to plan their menus with confidence.”

Harlech’s head of sales Chris Gregson added: “We see South West Wales as very similar to our heartland in Gwynedd with a strong tourism and hospitality sector which we are very well set up to serve, as well as education and health services which we are also experienced in catering for.

“Harlech Foodservice is a proudly Welsh company and opening the depot in 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.”