Paul Gillow: ‘it’s time SHS Group was brave and bold again’

Paul Gillow is the third SHS Group CEO in three years. But he’s a very different pick than his predecessors.

As a poacher-turned-gamekeeper, Gillow’s 20 years of experience in Asda – initially in store operations before switching to buying, then rising to VP and commercial director of food – will bring this family-owned, Belfast-based supplier-cum-sales-and-distribution business a new perspective on its customers. It’s a learning curve he welcomes too.

“I always had a fascination with crossing to the supplier side,” says Gillow. And while he left Asda “with a heavy heart”, he was drawn in by SHS’s heritage, the “entrepreneurial culture”, the “impressive” people and “really iconic brands”. And when the opportunity came up it “just felt like the right time to be taking on my next challenge”.

And challenging it most certainly is right now. Gillow joined off the back of a “disappointing” year: SHS Group’s sales fell 5.1% to £631.5m in the year to 27 December 2024. This, combined with increased costs, meant operating profits fell by a fifth (20.1%) to £15.4m.

“Like many businesses, we faced rising commodity costs, rising energy costs, transport costs and labour shortages,” Gillow explains. “There were several headwinds.”

And this wasn’t the end of SHS Group’s woes: it recently lost its long-term distribution deals with Unilever Food and General Mills to DCS Group. Gillow keeps tight-lipped on the details, simply stating: “We’ve enjoyed a successful partnership and wish them well for the future.”

Accentuating the positive

So how does Gillow plan to get business back on track? First, it’s about focusing on the positives. SHS Group turned 50 this year; that alone is cause for celebration.

“Not many businesses actually last 50 years, and we’re really proud of that,” Gillow beams. “We’ve got a lot of long-serving employees in the business who are equally proud of it. You can see the pride in our brands, the pride in the culture. And it’s not only about celebrating that, [the anniversary] has reminded us where we’ve come from.”

After setting up SHS General Distributors in 1975, founders Joe Sloan and the late Geoff Salters formed SHS Group through a merger with Dairyfarm Foods. It went on to build a strong foothold in Britain and Ireland through a variety of means: developing a sales & marketing arm (accounts include Mars Drinks, Tunnock’s, Colgate, Finish and Highland Spring); launching new products including its iconic WKD RTDs; and snapping up brands including Merrydown, Bottlegreen Drinks, Swedish Match, Crucial Sauce Company, Zip firelighters, British Pepper & Spice, and Meridian through a series of acquisitions.

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While not dwelling on the past, those prior successes continue to inspire the team, says Gillow. “We talk about the ‘founders’ mentality’. So, going back to our roots and that entrepreneurial spirit; being brave, being bold, taking calculated risks. We talk about how Joe and Geoff would have thought all those years ago.”

That’s meant doubling down on its “deliberate diversity” through the formation of SHS Group’s food division in August 2024. Led by former SHS Drinks MD Guy Dodwell, it’s home to Meridian Foods, Crucials Sauce and British Pepper & Spice. And Gillow sees real opportunity for SHS Food to drive growth.

With peanut butter brand Meridian’s ‘no nasties’ ethos resonating with shoppers – still roasted in Wrexham, from 100% nuts, value sales were up 13.6% to £19.3m, on volumes up 8.9% [NIQ 52 w/e 17 May 2025] – it recently introduced a bold new look, backed by a marketing campaign spanning digital, social media and OOH.

He also cites a recent distribution deal with Angus & Oink, which enabled the brand to launch its range of seasonings, table sauces and meal kits into Tesco and Sainsbury’s, “bringing real energy to quite commoditised categories”.

And the Crucials Sauce brand, based in Birmingham, recently expanded into salsas and seasonings.

The flurry of food-based activity has not come at the expense of the drinks division, however. In May, WKD added Cherry Ice to tap the “explosive growth” of cherry drinks. This came after the addition of Purple Grape and Citrus Ice variants under its caffeinated, 7% abv sub-brand WKD X at the end of 2024.

And while value sales of the 1990s RTD brand declined by 16.2% to £36.7m on volumes down 13.8% [NIQ y/e 30 June], Gillow insists it can tap into the broader RTD resurgence and attract new shoppers. Through its continuing sponsorship of Love  Island “the brand continues to resonate with 18 to 24-year-olds”.

As it prepares to celebrate its 30th birthday next year, there are also “really exciting plans” for WKD involving innovation and new marketing. And after enjoying early success with WKD in Australia, Gillow also wants to expand its international footprint — “exporting the same sense of energy and connection that’s driving success at home” – to take WKD global.

International expansion

International expansion isn’t stopping with WKD. Currently, the UK is its largest market by far, with a turnover of £521.7m compared to £109.9m for the rest of the world. And while US exports of SHS’s drinks have been impacted by Trump’s tariffs, the Zip firelighter brand is also gaining traction in Australia and France while the latter market has recently won new distribution for its Bottlegreen cordials and presses.

Meanwhile, SHS Drinks is exploring growth in the low & no category through its newly acquired Shandy Shack brand. Snapped up at the end of 2024, SHS Group plans to “turbocharge Shandy Shack’s growth, helping it to better reach the 40% of adults seeking to moderate their alcohol consumption”.

“We bought Shandy Shack for a reason,” says Gillow. “It’s a great business with a huge amount of future growth potential, and it’s bang on trend.”

“SHS has always been an acquisitive business, so we’re continually looking for opportunities,” he adds. 

Gillow’s can-do attitude will be essential to leading SHS Group through its current inflection point. And while he refuses to disclose any targets, “success for me will be: how do I build on the strength of our culture and help turn that into stronger results?”

Following a difficult year, “it’s even more important to double down on all the things that are going to improve the business,” says Gillow. As well as sales & distribution this will include “reducing complexity” on the supply chain side, and fully embracing “artificial intelligence and other digital tools” that he admits SHS has eschewed to date.

But it won’t come at the expense of employees. SHS puts “a lot of emphasis on people development”.

Just don’t be surprised if he doesn’t also bring in a few more poachers.