Symington’s

Source: Food and Drink Digital

Date :01/08/2008 00:00:00

An ambitious MBI has seen Symington’s Ltd get closer to suppliers in order to fulfil its growth potential. Exec learns more

Written by Ian Armitage and Produced by Kiron Chavda

Symington’s Ltd has enjoyed a rich history over the last 180 years, its success based on providing great tasting family food.

That tradition continues today as the company evolves into a modern business with a flair for creating food that is quick and easy to prepare.

In September 2007, Symington’s, which counts the Ainsley Harriott range among its famous brands, was acquired by David Salkeld and Henrik Nygaard Pade, via management buy-in (MBI) vehicle BPG Acquisitions Ltd. Funding was provided by Hermes Private Equity and Yorkshire Bank.

David Salkeld has since become chief executive of Symington’s, while Henrik Nygaard Pade is marketing director.

With a vast amount of experience in the food manufacturing sector between them, the pair have recognised Symington’s potential.

“The company has a number of established brands, including the Symington’s brand itself. We believe that there is the opportunity to drive growth by developing these brands further and expanding the company’s product and category portfolio,” David Salkeld, chief executive, told the Yorkshire Post.

“The initial impact of the MBI was massive,” explains Ian Spencer, Symington’s purchasing manager. “Obviously we now have a very strong business plan in place, which will see Symington’s treble in size. How has that impacted on us in terms of the supply chain? Well, we’ve had to adjust a number of policies and procedures, while amending our overall supply chain strategies.”

Symington’s supply chain partners have reacted well to the MBI and the company’s strategy of partnership sourcing. “It will be positive for both Symington’s and our suppliers,” says Spencer.

The challenge in the beginning, he says, was communicating the change to existing suppliers so that they could all move forward together.

“In practical terms, the first thing we did was set up a supplier conference,” Spencer adds. “The MBI came into effect at the start of September 2007, and we set up a conference for November where we engaged a large number of our suppliers with details of our objectives.”

“We all got together to ensure our suppliers were aware of exactly what our business plan is, the direction we are moving in, and to encourage them to get onboard in terms of working with us to achieve the planned growth.”

That was the start of it all. Symington’s started looking at ways of improving the supply chains, in order to optimise its business strategy.

“The conference was the catalyst for further development in the supply chain,” he explains. “We’ve been looking at improving and developing numerous things, like cost initiatives, to put us in a good cost position.”

Such measures are all part of the firm’s ambitious plan to grow.

“We are currently a dry blender and packer of soups, rice, pasta, couscous and other snack products,” says Spencer. “Part of the business plan is to diversify via acquisition and organic growth.

“What that means for me and the rest of the purchasing team is that we are looking for suppliers to assist in the challenges of managing inflation, identifying innovation and developing our knowledge as we enter product sectors that, historically, we have not been involved in. This involves close liaison and support from our supplier base for the Symington’s product development department and technical department.”

His plan is to utilise the expertise of the supplier base: “We want to use all the expertise that is contained within the supplier base to help us in our move for growth, particularly into new product areas.”

As Symington’s moves into new product categories it is “inevitable” that new suppliers will come on board. “In such cases, we’ll engage with new suppliers, building relationships towards a long-term sourcing strategy that has been key to Symington’s,” says Spencer.

He adds that Symington’s is looking at an average of three acquisitions per year over the next five years. Each one will bring a number of new suppliers into the supply chain.

“That will mean we’ll have to rationalise and consolidate the supplier base back down to manageable levels, while selecting the best supplier partnerships that will take our business forward,” explains Spencer. “Each acquisition brings a host of challenges in terms of evaluation, rationalisation and simplification.”

Consumer trends have also had a profound effect on Symington’s supply chain. We all want to eat healthier, fresher products, but few understand the impact. “Even reducing salt, which sounds like the easiest thing in the world to achieve, in reality is very difficult,” he says. “It is a taste enhancer, so removing even the smallest amount would involve a recipe reformulation, which is both expensive and time consuming, inevitably adding cost to the revised recipe.”

Such trends are driving cost directly into the business and also ‘sucking up’ the firm’s internal resources. “Of course, retailers don’t want to pay extra, so it is up to us to find innovative ways of removing that additional cost.” says Spencer.

Symington’s is still eager to expand into key markets and new product categories. “From our point of view it is about making the right selection in terms of who you are going to work with,” concludes Spencer.

Given the company’s track record in building strong, lasting relationships, it is definitely up to the challenge.

Click here to view the corporate brochure on Symington's