Wilkin & Sons has bounced back to the black as the spreads manufacturer boosted revenues and got to grips with soaring input costs.
Chairman Walter Scott heralded the return to profitability in 2024 as a welcome change in direction for the company. He said he had seen a “chink of light” at the end of the “very long and very dark tunnel” the Tiptree owner had been in for the past two years as it struggled with rising energy prices.
However, Scott warned the most recent budget, with the increase to National Insurance contributions and higher mininum wage, had since put “a significant strain” on Wilkin’s operations, particularly in the labour-intensive fruit-growing and tearooms areas of the group.
Wilkin & Sons made a pre-tax profit of £1.4m last year, after 2023’s loss of £1.9m, according to accounts filed at Companies House for the 12 months to 31 December 2024. Gross margins at the business recovered to 31%, having dropped to 22% in 2023.
Turnover at the employee-owned group also climbed 4.4% to £55.8m.
The performance comes after Scott blamed “virtually all” of the company’s troubles in 2023 on spiking energy costs and “unprecedented” rises in raw material costs.
Joint managing director Chris Newenham said, following the challenges of 2022 and 2023, that 2024 had seen “a steadying of the ship”.
“Our turnaround is by no means complete, but we have stemmed our losses and returned a modest but nonetheless encouraging profit,” he added in a statement in the accounts.
Scott highlighted that the company took on a new “less punitive” energy contract in late 2024, while the commissioning of its own solar farm in the first quarter of 2025 was expected to further insulate it from “volatile” market forces, with the Tiptree factory able to produce much of its own needs on site.
Wilkin & Sons’ implementation of new enterprise resource planning software in 2024 had likewise given directors better oversight of the nature of the business’ costs, and will drive productivity improvements in the firm, Newenham said.
He added the board undertook a “comprehensive” strategic review of the business in late 2024, which in combination with a revamped budgeting process – now overseen by new finance director Suzanne Leppard – would establish a “solid framework” for the coming years.
Newenham said a programme of strategic investment would support a push for growth.
“While continuing to adopt a generally cautious approach, the directors are keen to see us investing appropriately in the business over the coming year. Following a period of prudence, this marks a welcome return to growing the business for the longer term,” he added.
“While the next couple of years in particular will continue to be challenging, we nonetheless remain optimistic for the future of the business, both in the medium and long term.”
The jam maker, which has held royal warrants to four consecutive British monarchs, has been employee-owned for 30 years.
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