Farmfoods

frozen value food retailer Farmfoods plans to open 20 more stores this year - nearly two thirds of them in the South of England.

London and the South of England is growing territory for the retailer, which currently has more than 300 shops nationwide.

The Grocer reported last December that Farmfoods’ new 175,000 sq ft frozen food DC in Avonmouth, Bristol, would underpin its expansion. The DC incorporates frozen and ambient storage as well as office space.

Current southern stores owned by the Cumbernauld-based retailer include Crouch End, Walthamstow, Mitcham, Sutton and Ilford, scheduled to reopen this week after a refurbishment.

Farmfoods’ newly posted financial results at Companies House for the 53 weeks to 3 January 2015 reveal a 38% leap in pre-tax profit from £15.1m to £20.8m last year on turnover up 18% to £811.8m. This is a marked turnaround from the previous year, when pre-tax profit plunged more than 42% despite a 21% hike in sales.

Operating profit rose from £15.5m to £17.8m, despite sales costs moving from £669m to £789m as headcount jumped from 3,981 to 4,779.

Eric Herd, Farmfoods MD and major shareholder, said the group, whose roots are embedded in the distribution and handling of frozen food, continued to promote the benefits of frozen foods by emphasising nutrition, safety, reduced wastage, lower cost and convenience.

Herd has turned what was a Scottish meat business he inherited from his father into the UK’s second-biggest frozen food retailer, behind Iceland.

Net borrowings at the end of the 2014 period stood at £40.3m, up from £23.5m at the same point in 2013, while the company’s net assets were up to £80.7m from £67m last year.

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