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Company Information for Finsbury Food Group
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 AIM; FIF
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Company Statement
Mission and Strategy
Our stated aim is to build a bakery business operating in the growing sectors of large markets where our policy of being "The Best at What We Do" is able to generate profitable growth for us and our customers. This is based upon 5 "pillars":
The cakes, bread & morning goods markets are huge, with a combined retail value of nearly £5bn. Our focus is to support two key consumer trends — health, and indulgence. Our product range is not likely to be described as healthy, though that does not mean we cannot be health conscious in how we develop our products. Much of our range is now free of hydrogenated fats; we will not use artifical flavours, or colours where we can possibly avoid it; we offer a low fat cake range, as well as gluten free breads; and we are growing quickly in organic breads.
However, we never lose sight of the fact that most of our products are a treat and the one thing we must never compromise on is taste. Our primary aim is to wow our consumers with the products we offer, so that they feel the investment of calories was well worth it. When consumers do indulge, they have high expectations...and are also prepared to pay to make sure those expectations are met.
Company Diagram
Our stated aim is to build a bakery business operating in the growing sectors of large markets where our policy of being "The Best at What We Do" is able to generate profitable growth for us and our customers. This is based upon 5 "pillars":
Current Operations
Memory Lane Cakes
Memory Lane is one of the UK's premier suppliers of pre-packed cakes to the multiple retailers, utilising retailer brands and it's own portfolio of licensed arrangements.
Production is focused on a 8 acre freehold site in Cardiff, employing some 1,000 people. From there, the business delivers all over the UK and Ireland 363 days per annum ... a demanding but fun challenge.
Sales are well over £50m per annum, which equates to around 20,000 tonnes of cake every year! The business has the capacity to grow by at least £10m. By carefully developing the brands of our major supermarket customers alongside our Nestle confectionery brands, we believe this is an achievable, though challenging aim.
Lightbody
Lightbody is the UK's leading supplier of Celebration cakes to the UK multiples... so the chances are if you have had a birthday cake more than once in the last 5 years, you will have eaten a Lightbody product! Based in Hamilton and employing around 1,000 people, the business has two bakeries plus a European Sales and Marketing operation based in Rennes, France.
The initial bakery manufactures a wide range of party cakes, and is the leading licensing partner in the cake industry. In it's stable, it has the exclusive rights to Disney party cakes, plus the Thornton's brand. These two brands provide a strong foundation to which more fashionable licences like Bratz, and Dr Who can be added. The second bakery has two small cake lines producing a wide range of cereal clusters, and other indulgent small cakes.
Sales are around £50m per annum, with plenty of opportunities for growth by driving the celebration and small cake categories into more indulgent areas... we all like to treat ourselves on special occasions after all!
Anthony Alan Foods
Anthony Alan Foods is a sales and marketing business which has, under license from Weight Watchers, the rights to distribute ambient cakes using the Weight Watchers brand in the UK & Ireland. The company was founded in Barnsley in 2001 to develop a low fat cake brand in partnership with Weight Watchers. The business works with a range of UK bakeries to develop the range which it then sells on to the multiple grocers across the UK and Ireland.
Nicholas & Harris
The business has been going strong for decades, but has only relatively recently focussed on retail development as it has moved out of the shop market ... as Memory Lane did many years ago.
The Salisbury site currently produces a range of premium and speciality breads. Turnover is around £10m with the vast majority going to Waitrose, although other accounts are growing. Site capacity is in excess of £15m, with good growth opportunities to achieve that in the next 3 years. We have already invested over £750,000 in upgrading the bakery, and extending the Goods Out area. This will enable us to further improve our offering following the recent growth, and also to allow further sales increases to be brilliantly serviced.
California Cakes
California is the UK's leading supplier of low fat slices to the multiple grocers, either under the retailers own brand, or via a co-manufacturing agreement with Anthony Alan Foods using the Weight Watchers brand. The business also acts as a consolidator for a number of smaller suppliers which gains those people access to the large grocery multiples of this world.
From 2003 to 2007, the business was based in a leasehold unit in Coatbridge. However, in July 2007 it was re-located for the second time in it's short history to the newly acquired Lightbody site in Hamilton just 8 miles away... and all the staff moved with it!
United Central Bakeries
UCB is potentially a producer of a wide range of breads & morning goods. However, it has not fallen into the temptation of trying to be all things to all men; instead it has built up areas of market leadership in a smaller product range, focussing upon potato cakes & scones, gluten free bread & morning goods, and Yum Yums. Working almost exclusively under retailer brands, the customer base is dominated by the major supermarkets, though it does have a decent presence with one or two larger foodservice players.
Production is focussed upon a 4.5 acre freehold site in Bathgate, near Edinburgh. An excellently kitted out factory of over 100,000 sq ft offers ample room for expansion from the current base sales of around £10m, which keeps nearly 150 people employed. The unit could produce almost treble that volume, especially given its ability to supply baked or unbaked as well as frozen, ambient or chilled!
In 2004, it was heavily focussed on ethnic breads, with large plants churning out thousands of pitta & naan breads every hour. Today, as that market has become more commoditised and selling prices have fallen through the floor, UCB has evolved its product portfolio accordingly. That development will doubtless continue – no room for complacency in this game!
And with the population becoming ever more diet-aware, the gluten free range is a great opportunity. Significant investment in 2006 has created an area which is physically segregated, with a dedicated work force to offer the very best product integrity. We plan to lead the U.K market ... before having a bash at export!
Campbells Cakes
Campbell’s is an odd bakery ... it has no baking facility! The business operates in a growing niche of cold set (i.e no bake) products, specialising in products like Caramel Millionaire’s Shortbread, and Rocky Road. Its state of the art cutter can slice them to pretty much any size as an indulgent single portion treat, which is then sold on to many of the major supermarkets, primarily under their own label.
The business operates out of a freehold property in Twechar, which is just north of Glasgow, and is one of the largest local employers with over 50 staff producing nearly £4m worth of these gorgeous products every year.
Board of Directors and Key Management
| Maurice Saatchi | Non-Executive Chairman |
| Dave Brooks | Group Chief Executive |
| Lisa Morgan | Group Finance Director |
| David Marshall | Non-Executive Deputy Chairman |
| Paul Monk | Non-Executive Director |
| Edward Beale | Non-Executive Director |
| Ian Farnsworth | Non-Executive Director |
| Martin Lightbody | Group Strategic Development Director |
| Crawford Currie | Finance Director, Lightbody Group Ltd |
Company AddressFinsbury Food Group plc
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Additional Address/Key ContactP.R Agency Tel: 020 7822 0200 |
CapitalThe number of ordinary shares in issue is 51,200,288. Insofar as the Company is aware, the percentage of securities that is not in public hands is 49.86%, these being held by directors, their families and significant shareholders. |
Nominated BrokersPanmure Gordon (Broking) Ltd | Nominated AdvisorsPanmure Gordon (Broking) Ltd |
Major Shareholders
| Name | Amount | % Holding |
| Martin Wightman Lightbody | 13,700,000 | 28.09% |
| London Finance & Inv Grp PLC | 7,800,000 16.00% | |
| Chase (GA Group) Nominees Ltd | 1,477,300 | 3.03% |
Most Recent Statement
02/09/08 - Change of Management Structure02/07/08 - Trading Update
01/10/07 - Acquisition
17/09/07 - Dividend Declaration
17/09/07 - Final Results
19/07/07 - Additional Listing