Race appointed chairman of Parfetts’ trust board

Parfetts have appointed former Bestway managing director Martin Race as the chairman of the company’s trust board.

The role will last for two years initially, after which all parties will review the needs of the trust board and the company. He replaces Graham Nuttall OBE, and will now chair biannual meetings in which the board review performance and are updated on executive strategy.

Joint managing directors Greg Suszczenia and David Grimes will form part of the board alongside two employee elected members Aaron Forward and Kerry Brennan – chair and vice-chair of the Central Voice.

Race left Bestway in November last year in order to spend more time at home with his family, having worked in the industry for more than three decades, he said: “I look forward to this new role, which gives me a chance to return, in a small way, to the wholesale sector that I have missed, and in a business I have always admired.”

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Suszczenia explained that Race’s industry experience makes him the ideal chairman to help the company grow while upholding the interests of all employees, while Forward added: “Having interviewed Martin with my colleague Kerry Brennan we are confident that he is his own man and will be able to aid both the trust board in their duties and employees at the company.”

Parfetts recently saw its turnover grow by 9.8% to £380m for the year ending June 2019, with pre-tax profits also increasing by 17.5% to £6.1m. The company put this down to Go Local Direct operating out of Sheffield on a 24-hour basis, with sales growing by 10% over the last 12 months. As well as this, a depot in Middlesbrough branch doubled its weekly turnover in a year.

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