Palmer & Harvey tills ring with sales
WHOLESALER Palmer & Harvey (P&H) yesterday posted a six per cent jump in full-year revenue after its tie-up with CostCutter in 2013 helped to bolster its presence across the UK.
The independently owned company said revenues hit £4.5bn in the year to 4 April, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased by 19 per cent to £35m.
P&H is the largest distributor to the convenience sector, supplying more than 88,000 UK retail outlets with tobacco, sweets and groceries.
In 2013, the group struck an eight-year deal to supply CostCutter’s network of 2,500-plus stores. P&H had around 800 outlets at the time, which it sold to CostCutters to focus entirely on distribution.
“This has been a year of transformation for P&H,” chairman and chief executive Chris Etherington, said. “Our partnership with CostCutter is delivering buying benefits to our customers and is operating well with an expanded number of stores. Our small drop expertise positions us well for the current changes in the grocery market which is seeing rapid expansion in convenience format stores.”