Northern Foods facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | Food |
| Founded | 1937 as Northern Dairies |
| Headquarters | Wakefield, England |
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Key people
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Ranjit Singh Boparan |
| Revenue | £975.2 million (2009) |
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Operating income
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£52.7 million (2009) |
| £2.5 million (2009) | |
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Number of employees
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9,890 (2009) |
| Parent | Boparan Holdings |
| Subsidiaries | Gunstones bakery, Solway Foods, Fox's Biscuits, Green Isle Foods, Hollands Pies, Pennine Foods, Matthew Walker |
Northern Foods was a big British company that made food. Its main office was in Wakefield, England. It used to be listed on the London Stock Exchange, which means its shares were traded there. It was even part of the top 100 companies in the UK!
Northern Foods, along with the store Marks & Spencer, helped create the idea of 'chilled food' in the UK. This means fresh, ready-to-eat meals and snacks kept in the fridge. A key person in its growth was Christopher Haskins, who was married to the founder's daughter. He worked his way up, becoming chairman from 1980 to 2002. In 2011, another company called 2 Sisters bought Northern Foods, so it was no longer traded on the stock exchange.
Contents
The Story of Northern Foods
Starting as a Dairy Business
The company was started by Alec Horsley in 1937. It began as a family business that sold milk in Holme on Spalding Moor. During World War II, Alec Horsley bought many other local milk businesses. This made his company a major milk supplier in the Humber area.
In 1942, the business was officially named Northern Dairies. It became a public company in 1956. This meant people could buy shares in the company. In 1958, Alec's son, Nicholas Horsley, joined the company. He later became a director. One of his first successes was buying a share in a small ice cream company called Mr Whippy. He later sold it for a good profit.
Growing into a Food Giant
The milk business made a lot of money. This was partly because the government helped set milk prices after the war. Northern Dairies used this money to start making other kinds of food. In 1972, the company changed its name to Northern Foods.
Nick Horsley's brother-in-law, Christopher Haskins, met an executive from Marks & Spencer (M&S) on a plane. M&S started buying milk from Northern Foods for their new store. Soon, Northern Foods was also supplying yogurt and other foods, including the first fresh trifle for M&S. This partnership grew huge, eventually bringing in over half a billion pounds a year! Northern Foods also made products for other stores.
In 1986, Northern Foods built a special factory called Fenlands Food Factory in Grantham. It cost £8 million and was only for making food for M&S. At the time, it was one of the most advanced food factories in Europe.
Expanding with New Brands
Nicholas Horsley helped the company grow even more. Northern Foods started making cakes for M&S (through Park Cakes). They also bought other companies like Smith's Flour Milling, Hull Brewery, Fox's Biscuits, and Pork Farms. During this time, Northern Foods became a leader in making chilled, ready-to-eat meals and sandwiches for supermarkets.
Nicholas Horsley retired early due to health reasons. By 1986, Christopher Haskins became the chairman of Northern Foods. In 1991, the company bought Express Dairies.
In 1994, the Milk Marketing Board, which had helped set milk prices, was closed down. This caused milk prices in supermarkets to drop. It affected all milk companies, including Northern Foods. In 1998, Northern Foods separated Express Dairies into its own company. This was because the lower profits from milk were making the overall company's share price go down. Express Dairies was later bought by Arla Amba in 2003.
Changes in the 21st Century
Christopher Haskins stepped down as CEO in 2002. In 2004, Patricia O'Driscol took over as CEO.
In 2004, Marks & Spencer faced a takeover attempt. After this, M&S decided to change how it worked with suppliers. It started buying less from Northern Foods to get food from more companies. This led to some financial difficulties for Northern Foods.
In 2005, Patricia O'Driscoll began a big plan to reorganize the company. In 2006, Stefan Barden joined to help with this plan. They sold off many parts of the business, including the chilled delivery service, flour mills, cake businesses, and some pastry companies. They also closed some factories. After the reorganization, O'Driscoll stepped down, and Stefan Barden became CEO in 2007. For the next few years, the company saw sales grow and profits increase, even with changing food prices.
A big challenge for Northern Foods was its pension plan. After the 2008 financial crisis, the pension fund had a large deficit. A merger with another company, Greencore, was suggested to help with this. However, the pension fund preferred an offer from 2 Sisters PLC. 2 Sisters successfully bought Northern Foods in May 2011.
On May 13, 2011, Northern Foods was removed from the London Stock Exchange. The factories that belonged to Northern Foods still make food for major UK supermarkets as part of the 2 Sisters group.
On September 11, 2020, Northern Foods sold the Fox's Biscuits brand to Ferrero SpA. Ferrero is an Italian company famous for making chocolate and snacks.
Brands Northern Foods Owned
Northern Foods owned many different food brands over the years. Here are some of them:
- Bowyers
- Baxters Food Group
- Cavaghan & Gray Seafood
- Dalepak Foods
- Donegal Catch
- Dorset Chilled Foods
- Eden Vale
- Elkes Biscuits
- Emile Tissot
- Ethnic Cuisine
- Express Dairies
- Fenland Foods
- Fletchers, Grain D’Or and Kara Foods
- Fox's Biscuits
- George Payne & Co
- Green Isle Food Groups
- Gunstones Bakery
- Holland's Pies
- Kara Foods
- Lacemont
- Matthew Walker
- NFT Distribution
- Park Cakes
- Pennine Foods
- Pyewipe
- R&K Wise
- Rawmarsh Foods
- Ski
- Smiths Flour Mills
- Solway Foods
- Vanderheul
Former Brands
