Welsh wholesaler Harlech Foodservice is to open a new Shropshire depot as part of a strategy to expand into the West Midlands.
The Telford location forms part of a £6m investment to create 150 new jobs which came after the company saw its sales increase from £32m to a record £50m over the past three years.
David Cattrall, managing director of Harlech Foodservice, and Matthew Farrall, who heads major North-Wales-based haulier Farrall’s, agreed a deal that will see Harlech operate in an area of Farrall’s new site in Telford in Shropshire and give them a foothold in an area they have identified as ripe for growth.
Read more: Harlech continues growth strategy with Celtic Foodservices acquisition
Ian Evans, Harlech’s head of operations, said: “David mentioned that we were looking for a new base in that area and it turned out that Farrall’s had just opened a new site in Telford and there was spare capacity. 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. Farrall’s 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.
Harlech Foodservice also recently acquired rival wholesaler Celtic Foodservices, with all 12 members of staff transferring to Harlech, including director Jason Davies, as well as the premises in Pembroke Dock.
