Scarborough fresh food supplier completes £500k takeover of rival wholesaler

Stuart’s Foods, the Scarborough-based fresh food wholesaler, has completed the acquisition of S Clift Grimsby Limited in a deal worth £500k.

Stuart’s serves in excess of 800 customers across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire; employs 33 people; operates 18 delivery vans, and delivers more than 170,408 litres of milk and 527,467 kilograms of potatoes every year.

The wholesaler, which has purchased S Clift and its 13 Lincolnshire-based staff and premises, plans to invest a further £500k into the firm over the next five years.

The purchase is expected to be the first in an ongoing process aimed at extending the footprint of Stuart’s through the acquisitions of complementary businesses including, potentially, butchers, bakers, delis and food wholesalers.

Third generation family business S Clift Grimsby Limited was originally set up in 1927. The opportunity for Stuart’s to purchase it came up after the most recent owner wanted to retire at 67, and his children were no longer interested in running the business.

The deal will extend Stuart’s reach to include towns like Hull, York, Lincoln, Harrogate, Thirsk, Northallerton, Whitby, Malton and Skegness.

The client base of the extended business now includes the likes of North Yorkshire County Council; York Teaching NHS Trust (including the Scarborough and Malton hospitals); McCains; the Grimsby Institute college and Yorkshire Coast College.

Damian Howarth, Stuart’s managing director, said: “We’ve built up a strong understanding of the catering trade over the past four decades and we’re passionate about promoting and supporting the whole healthy eating agenda.

“Our direct relationships with growers and other quality suppliers in our region, mean we are able to source the best quality ingredients and deliver them to our clients with minimum road miles – straight from field to fork.

“Many of our local authority clients in particular have quite strict requirements around food standards, and this means that we are able to take care of this for them and help them meet their targets.”

“The acquisition of S Clift will support this by opening up a new network of suppliers and customers on the south bank of the Humber. It was a natural fit for us, as a very customer focused business with a strong reputation and heritage like our own.”

He added: “Acquiring S Clift now gives us an opportunity to cross-fertilise between it and Stuart’s. Our existing business benefits from a new set of suppliers and customers, while we can introduce new product lines into S Clift, to enhance its offering, as well as bringing some of its infrastructure, systems and processes into line with contemporary requirements such as STS, SALSA and Red Tractor standards.

“We’re proud to say that Stuart’s Foods has gone from strength to strength over the past 30 years since our parents set it up and this deal represents the beginning of what we hope will be a phase of serious expansion through acquisition.”

Stuart’s Foods is now run by Damian and his sister Samantha, supported by Damian’s wife Michelle and a team in Scarborough. The wholesaler, which was originally established in 1986, is now being run by the second generation of the family.

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