Home About Us Our Divisions Careers Our Community Contact Staff Zone Supplier Zone Prev Next Home > About Us > A.F. Blakemore & Son Well Positioned for Growth About the Group Group Overview Coronavirus Update Our Divisions Interactive Map Board of Directors Our Heritage 100 Years Book The Blakemore Way The Way We Do Business Corporate Responsibility Corporate Responsibility Policy Environmental Policy Food Safety & Quality Policy Health & Safety Policy Tax Policy Modern Slavery Statement Gender Pay Gap Report Awards Blakemore Property AFB Website Ts & Cs Privacy and Cookies Policy News A.F. Blakemore & Son Well Positioned for Growth November 17, 2021 Chairman Peter Blakemore has announced a year of good progress for 2020/21 in his statement on A.F. Blakemore & Son’s annual financial results. A.F. Blakemore’s group sales for the financial year ending on 24 April 2021 declined by 5% from the previous year, falling from £1.053bn to £1.001bn. The company’s foodservice and wholesale customers across the travel, tourism, leisure and educational sectors were heavily disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, but A.F. Blakemore’s multi-channel strategy enabled the business to meet changing demands and utilise its workforce to good effect. Pre-tax profits remained in line with the previous year at £6.1m due to effective cost control and stable margin performance, while shareholders’ funds and net assets grew significantly from £85.7m to £98.6m. Peter Blakemore commented: “I am pleased to report that the company made good progress during the period to 24 April 2021, when the business had to meet a full year of unprecedented challenges caused by the Covid‑19 pandemic. “As a result of great customer service and an investment in pricing, we enjoyed good sales across our community-based SPAR convenience stores, with consumers shopping more locally, and whilst less frequently, with a higher basket spend. “Our teams worked hard to maintain robust service levels both in-store and across our distribution network throughout the financial year.” A.F. Blakemore has continued to invest during the past eighteen months as part of its commitment to growing a sustainable business for the future. In the summer, the company launched a purpose-built, 165,000sq ft distribution depot in Bedford that will provide the cornerstone of future infrastructure and logistics capability. The multi-temperature, energy-efficient site has provided the business with additional supply-chain capacity to better serve customers in London and South East England. Across its SPAR retail estate, A.F. Blakemore has continued to implement its store cluster strategy, which aims to deliver store propositions aligned to the needs of consumers, with a focus on food for now and food for later. The business has expanded its home delivery service across company-owned stores and continued the rollout of its own-brand County Bridge fresh meat range to independent retailers. In recognition of the changing needs of its commercial customers, A.F. Blakemore has also invested in new online ordering platforms, driven by machine learning and artificial intelligence, for SPAR retailers, Wholesale Distribution customers and Foodservice customers. The company has continued to play a key role in supplying essential services to local communities. The manager of A.F. Blakemore’s Laceby Lodge SPAR store, Linda Carrington, received a British Empire Medal in The Queen’s New Year Honours for exceptional services in her area. A continued focus on the group’s environmental impact saw A.F. Blakemore reduce its energy and fuel consumption by 9% in 2020/21 and cut carbon emissions by 13%. Despite market volatility, sales in the first quarter of 2021/22 were 12% ahead of the prior year as a result of the solid retention of convenience store volumes, the strong recoverability of Covid-impacted channels and growth from new customer accounts. Peter said: “As a result of our strong sales performance and investment in our infrastructure, I believe that the business is well positioned to navigate the current supply chain challenges and to deliver our growth aspirations. “I would like to thank colleagues, customers and supply partners for their hard work and support throughout the past year in ensuring we have both the expertise and resilience to supply food and services to the communities that we serve in these everchanging times.” A.F. Blakemore’s brand-new multi-temperature distribution centre in Bedford, which launched in summer 2021 Back to news The Blakemore Way Blakemore Heritage News November 17, 2021 A.F. Blakemore & Son Well Positioned for Growth November 15, 2021 Blakemore Retail and NSPCC Win at Corporate Engagement Awards November 05, 2021 Blakemore Retail Goes Purple for Purple Tuesday View all Stories Tweets by AF_Blakemore A.F. Blakemore Group Links About Us Group Overview Coronavirus Update Our Divisions Interactive Map Board of Directors Our Heritage The Blakemore Way Corporate Responsibility Gender Pay Gap Report Awards AFB Website Ts & Cs Privacy and Cookies Policy Our Divisions Blakemore Retail Blakemore Trade Partners Logistics Wholesale Distribution Foodservice Fresh Foods BDS Careers Welcome Why Work for A.F. Blakemore? Retail Careers Distribution Careers Head Office Careers Kickstart Scheme Apprenticeships Contact Us Our Community Welcome Our Contribution Community Cashback Grant Branching Out Community Volunteering Charitable Giving Blakemore Foundation Community Awards Registered Office: A.F. Blakemore and Son Ltd, Longacres Industrial Estate, Rose Hill, Willenhall, West Midlands, WV13 2JP Registered No: 391135 England VAT Reg: 431 3902 80 A.F. Blakemore & Son Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Our FCA register number is 723803. website by horizon media sitemap