If Walkers was distracted last year at the prospect of closing its Peterlee plant, it didn’t show

walkers

Last year’s ranking: 5

Sales: £694.2m (+4.3%)

If Walkers was distracted last year at the prospect of closing its Peterlee plant, it didn’t show. While the snacks giant was moving to close the County Durham facility, putting 380 jobs at risk to save on “costs of manufacturing and transporting products around the UK”, it was cashing in on increased demand for larger formats. Its Sensations lineup of bigger bags rose a whopping 16.2% in value to £101.9m. Three new ‘international’ flavours were backed by a TV ad featuring footage of Brazil’s Rio Carnival and the Holi Festival of Colours in India. Yet success for one range coincided with disaster for another: Tear n Share lost more than half its value in spite of a UEFA Champions League promotion.