Strong trading sees Parfetts sales top £605m

Parfetts has seen its employee-ownership model continue to attract independent retailers across its cash and carry depots network with turnover rising over 6 per cent from £570m to £605m, which follows two record years.

The company has also announced an extraordinary pay rise of 7.5 per cent for salaried staff to help them manage the rising cost of living. While weekly paid employees see an increase of 9.6 per cent to hourly rates.

Staff will also benefit from an extra day of paid holiday, and colleagues can take additional unpaid holidays to a maximum allowance of 38 days for full-time staff.

Commenting on the results, Guy Swindell, joint managing director of Parfetts, said: “We have remained laser-focused on our customers over the last year and put in place a record number of promotions that have attracted a tremendous amount of interest.  With the rising cost of business, retailers are having a tough time, and we are doing everything we can to help them maintain their margins.

“Everyone at Parfetts is pleased with the results for the year ended June 2022.  It has been a year of consolidation following two record-breaking years, the business is now debt free, and has, once again, seen record sales being achieved despite having to continue to work through supply chain difficulties.”

Parfetts has continued to invest in its operations with the expansion of its delivered service and improvements to IT infrastructure, alongside a proactive approach to stock procurement and stock availability.

Investments in new technology and the use of advanced data have helped the company to create efficiency savings that have been passed on to customers. Parfetts has seen rising costs across its operations, from energy prices to card processing fees. A new approach to its picking and delivery programme has delivered significant savings resulting in the continuation of a free delivered service for customers.
 
Noel Robinson, joint managing director of Parfetts, said: “The Go Local symbol group continues to grow at pace and remains a vital part of our strategy.  While Go Local Direct (GOLD), the Free delivery service, which launched in the Sheffield depot, has expanded to Somercotes, Aintree and Middlesbrough.  We continue to work closely with our customers to ensure that we are easy to do business with and support them wherever possible.

“All our hard-working colleagues deserve recognition for the fantastic service they deliver throughout the year.  Once more, our trading performance has allowed our staff to benefit through our employee ownership bonus scheme and an exceptional cost of living bonus.”
 
Parfetts invested £1.5m in replacing plant and equipment and over £1m in improving depots. The Middlesbrough site saw its upgrade programme completed following its acquisition in 2018.

The results were announced following the launch of Parfetts new depot in Birmingham, which will operate a hybrid model – cash & carry and delivered.  It aims to bring the Parfetts offering into new geographic areas, where competitive pricing, backed up by strong stockholdings, will attract new customers and support the growth of the symbol group.