The strategy of the Group remains clear: to deliver profitable and sustainable growth. We are focused on driving returns in the UK by leveraging our scale and market leadership, whilst internationally driving sustainable growth that is accretive to the Group’s margin. These priorities are underpinned by our relentless focus on operational excellence and by being a positive force and trusted by our stakeholders.
Drive returns by leveraging scale and market leadership
Drive sustainable growth and Group accretive margin
Improve performance through operational excellence
Be a positive force and a trusted partner for all our stakeholders
As the number one player in the UK chilled desserts market, we continue to invest and innovate to drive the category forward.
In 2024, we invested in a new development kitchen at our Newark site and, by leveraging our capabilities across multiple desserts categories, launched first-to-market products, such as the award-winning cream-filled yum nuts that bring together ambient bakery with chilled cream processing.
We onboarded c.60 SKUs across cream cakes, hot desserts and custard, including a major business win with a key customer on the back of our strong innovation capabilities and price competitiveness. We also retained our leading position in trifles and cheesecakes, while continuing to deliver market-leading service across our broader customer base.
As a result, we are well-positioned to continue leading the way in this category with great-tasting products that delight consumers.
Over the years, our Operational Excellence team has developed a set of tools and processes to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations. This approach is defined as the BOS and sits at the core of how we operate. It includes a standardised performance review process across sites and a state-of-the-art smart manufacturing system which provides live performance data.
To train colleagues, we developed the BOS toolkit and established the Operational Excellence Academy, which support development whilst encouraging autonomy and ownership at all levels of the business. The BOS and the work of our Operational Excellence team have been major contributors in supporting the efficiency improvements this year, which has been paramount in protecting the business from the past three years’ high levels of inflation.
The knowledge gained in the UK is shared across our markets, the first roll-out of our smart manufacturing system in the US and the implementation of a lean manufacturing programme across our sites in China.
In May 2024, we launched our new Fresh & Simple range across the stores of a major US retailer. This marked the culmination of a strong collaboration between our Product Development and Commercial teams to build a new proposition, bringing together a suite of delicious recipes.
A 25-strong range of meals, burritos and artisan breads is now available across c.450 stores in the east of the country, with vibrant and enticing packaging highlighting the freshness of the products.
The brand provides a proven solution for retailers who are looking to enter what is a high-growth emerging segment of fresh prepared food.
In 2018, we made a commitment to halve the net food waste produced in our UK business by 2030, recognising the need to make better use of resources, reduce emissions and increase food availability.
For example, we partnered with FareShare on the King’s Coronation Food Project to help tackle food insecurity by delivering 500,000 meals to vulnerable communities. In addition, we rolled out real-time tracking tools and standardised processes to identify root causes of waste and implementing corrective actions. Our project to transform our staff shops has also contributed to redistribution, giving colleagues more access to discounted products.
In 2024, we generated 2,568 fewer tonnes of net food waste, bringing our total reduction since making our commitment to 44.2% (22,039 tonnes), which leaves us on track to meet our target.