Central Foods retains a place in top 100 businesses list

Frozen food distributor Central Foods has retained a position as one of the top 100 performing businesses in Northamptonshire.

Two years ago, the firm was named in the Grant Thornton Northamptonshire Ltd Top 100 Companies report for the first time.

Now the Collingtree-based company – one of the leading frozen food distributors in the UK – has once again been included in the report, which focuses on the performance of the top 100 privately owned businesses in Northamptonshire.

“As a company that was launched in Northamptonshire 23 years ago, Central Foods is delighted to have been named in this report again,” said Central Foods MD Gordon Lauder. “The county has a wealth of highly successful privately owned businesses and we are proud to stand alongside them as one of the top 100 performing companies.

“Just like many businesses, we started off as a small-scale operation, working from home and have gradually built on our success to become one of the leading frozen food distributors in the UK. I’d like to thank our skilled and committed staff for their support in helping to build our reputation and providing superb service to our customers, which has been a significant factor in achieving the growth and development that we have secured over the years.”

The Grant Thornton Northamptonshire Ltd Top 100 Companies report is part of an annual series of reports initiated by Grant Thornton, which provides an in-depth financial analysis of the county’s 100 privately owned companies based on turnover. The analysis, now in its seventh year, provides a yardstick against which the county can assess its economic performance and businesses can benchmark themselves against their peers.

Mike Hughes, who leads the Advisory team at Grant Thornton’s Northampton office said: “Businesses in the county are known for their strength and resilience, but the lingering uncertainties over Brexit and current economic challenges seem to be taking their toll. That said, there are businesses which have performed incredibly well. Meanwhile, an increase in the number of employees and a 4.5% average salary increase will help the local economy. Ongoing investment in assets such as plant, equipment and vehicles is also evidence that businesses have confidence in future growth.”

Northamptonshire Limited is compiled using the most recent publicly available accounts (as at September 2019) of the county’s largest privately owned companies based on turnover and with their principle trading address in Northamptonshire. The survey excludes companies that are listed or owned by listed or overseas businesses. This survey encompasses companies with revenues ranging from around £13m to over £600m.