Harlech Foodservice, a family-run food wholesaler based in Gwynedd, is creating 50 new jobs and targeting revenues of £120m by 2029, following a rapid expansion across Wales and England. The company is on track to post record sales of £75m after growing revenues by 25% in the past year.
Expansion and Job Creation
The company opened new depots in Caerphilly and Telford to support growing demand in South Wales, the north west of England, and the West Midlands. It now plans a £3.5m expansion of its headquarters in Llanystumdwy near Cricieth, including new warehousing, freezer facilities, and delivery vehicles. As a result, the workforce is expected to rise from 320 to 370 over the next few years.
Managing director Mark Lawton said: “We have a real focus on supporting Welsh products and suppliers and that means we are now putting products like Llaeth y Llan yoghurt, Radnor Springs mineral waters, Edwards the Welsh Butcher sausages and Snowdonia cheese onto school dinner tables not just across Wales but in the north west of England and border counties of England. That’s helped us increase our sales of Llaeth y Llan products by 59%, Radnor Springs by 55% and Edwards the Welsh Butcher by 72% so we’re not just improving our performance, we’re boosting other Welsh businesses too.”
Recovery from Pandemic
When Covid hit, the company’s sales dropped to £18m in 2021. However, they have recovered and grown, with estimated sales of up to £80m next year and a three-year target of £120m by 2029. Lawton added: “We’ve transformed the business from one that relied on seasonal tourism into a year-round operation by expanding into the public sector, particularly education and healthcare.”
On job creation, Lawton said: “We’ve created 48 new jobs over the past 18 months and our total staff numbers are now 320 - these are full time, year round jobs which is really important in a rural area of north west Wales and we’re still recruiting. We have plans for new warehousing and we’ve got the land here at our headquarters. Now we need help to get those facilities built on the land because it will help us create a further 50 jobs here in our Gwynedd heartland.”
Investment and Support
The firm’s operations director Ian Evans said: “We need more capacity here but from putting shovels in the ground here it will take 12 to 18 months to have the new warehousing up and running. That would mean an investment of £2 million in new buildings and a further £1.5 million in new delivery vehicles and ideally we would need help from Government to achieve that.”
Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, who visited the company, said: “It’s been immensely exciting to hear about how Harlech has developed over the past three years since my last visit and to hear about their exciting plans for the future. Harlech are one of the key employers for this area and they also support many local hospitality businesses while at the same time they are winning big public sector contracts not only in Wales but across the border and these underpin the work they are doing here. They have plans for growth and increased employment and for the expansion of their headquarters site with new buildings and refrigerated storage while at the same time they are conscious of the need to reduce emissions and be energy efficient.”
Company Background
The business was founded in the town of Harlech in 1972 by Colin and Gill Foskett to supply the holiday market. Its rapid expansion in recent years has seen it deliver to restaurants, pubs, schools, and hospitals across Wales and into England. The founders’ three children, Jonathan, Andrew, and Laura, took over the reins from their parents and still sit on the board, while a third generation of the family are making their way in the firm.
