Supplier Woodward Foodservice has bought rival DBC Foodservice for £25m, creating a new group with annual turnover of more than £400m.

Woodward, which supplies fresh, frozen and chilled products to restaurants, cafes, hotels, pubs and bars, has recently won supply deals with roadside caterer Little Chef and pub company Laurel.

It has 1,100 employees at 15 distributing sites and a turnover of £210m, and completed a management buyout led by chief executive Ed Hyslop in August 2005.

Hyslop said: “Combining the two businesses will give us a fabulous platform from which to grow further and offer additional value to our existing and potential customers.”

DBC has a network of 13 distribution warehouses throughout the UK and employs 800 people. Last year its turnover was £200m. 

It recently won a multimillion-pound Ministry of Defence contract from 3663 as part of the Purple Foodservice Solutions consortium.

By Chris Druce

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