Harlech Foodservice wins £1m five-year contract to supply Shire Services

Left to right: Harlech Foodservice’s Dave Roberts; Shire Services’ Lauren Moore and Susan Vuli; and Wenlock Spring’s Alan Souter.

Harlech Foodservice has landed a £1 million five-year contract to deliver to schools across a huge area of the West Midlands and Wales.

Harlech Foodservice is now supplying Shire Services, the catering arm of Shropshire County Council, with a wide range of drinks and vending products – including products from Shropshire firm Wenlock Spring – for primary and secondary schools.

Shire Services provides catering services not only to schools but also to nurseries, care homes and further education colleges across Shropshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, and North Wales.

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. Harlech has based five vehicles and their drivers at the Wellington site, and that presence in Shropshire was crucial in winning the contract. As a result of the new deal, 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.”

David Roberts, Harlech’s regional account manager, added: “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.”

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 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, taking its total to 250 employees. Harlech has its headquarters near Criccieth in Gwynedd and depots at Wellington, Chester, Merthyr Tydfil and Carmarthen. It has a fleet of over 50 vehicles to deliver a choice of 5,000 product lines to cafés, restaurants, pubs and public sector customers.