Crisis Management

The Situation

Bidvest Logistics (now Best Food) are the leading supplier of logistical and supply chain solutions to the UK hospitality and restaurant sector. Customers include: KFC, Pret, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Pizza Express and Nandos.

•One of Best Food Logistics key customers (KFC) left due to poor service levels

•This £1.4bn division of the South African-owned Bidcorp needed serious help to manage transformational change and avoid a crisis.

•The division was heavily loss making with multiple sites and >1500 people providing solutions to >9000 restaurant chains.

The Solution

Russam placed Paul Whyte as Interim MD (and now permanent MD) to lead on the turnaround.

Paul set a 5 stage strategy to move from "Surviving to Winning“:

1. Develop leading class service offer

2. Dispose of 13 of 16 loss making contracts

3. Remove £29m of cost/right size the business

4. Increase price to fair and profitable levels

5. Attract and win stable, growing customers

The Result

•From a loss of -£37m in 2017 to now generating a profit and recently completed the sale of Best Food Logistics to Booker, part of Tesco PLC.

•Renegotiation of a long-term deal with KFC that saw the customer return to Bidvest for supply to their restaurants from the north of the UK, where Paul had capacity to help.

•This time, however, it was on profitable terms, and the transition back was “seamless.”

The Managing Director of Bidvest Logistics, Grant Cox, has said of Russam, “You have provided us with so many wonderful individuals who are doing a fantastic job of fixing the business.”

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