Activities
Holroyd Howe is an independent contract caterer that specialises in two key sectors - business and industry, and independent schools and colleges.
Its activities encompass fine dining at corporate offices, staff restaurants, cafés and vending services.
The group initially operated in London and the Home Counties before expanding into the rest of the country in 2004.
It is named after its founders, contract caterers Rick Holroyd and Nick Howe, who met while they were working at Sutcliffe Catering.
Prior to setting up Holroyd Howe, Holroyd was general manager of sales at Nelson Hind and Howe was operations director at Baxter & Platts.
Timeline
- August 1997: Rick Holroyd and Nick Howe found Holroyd Howe at offices in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire with financial backing from Derek Johnson, the former managing director of J Lyons Catering. Johnson, who takes on the role of chairman, puts £80,000 into the pot and makes another £40,000 available to the fledgling business.
- October 1997: The group starts work for its first client, Complete Video in Covent Garden, London.
- January 1998: Holroyd Howe picks up its first education contract with Heathmount School in Watton-at-Stone in Hertfordshire.
- August 1998: In its first year, Holroyd Howe makes a net pre-tax loss of £68,467 on a turnover of £509,067. At this point the group has eight contracts.
- August 1999: The group, which now has 20 contracts, makes its first pre-tax profit of £24,553 on turnover of £1.99m.
- May 2001: Holroyd Howe moves to new offices in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. By August, the group has 38 contracts and an annual turnover of £5.5m
- December 2002: Holroyd Howe reaches the 50-contract mark after winning three new deals.
- July 2004: The company takes on its first national contract, which is to feed 3,750 staff at 18 UK sites owned by utility company RWE Group. The three-year contract is worth £3.5m in annual turnover.
- November 2005: Holroyd Howe wins its first-ever Government contract, catering for 400 staff at the London office of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. The three-year contract is worth £175m in annual turnover.
Financial snapshot
Full Year
Turnover: £26.7m (2004: £18m)
Pre-tax profit: £638,000 (2004: £361m)
Financial year end: 30 September 2005
Operating data
Number of contracts: 92 (2004: 73)
Number of new contracts added in the year to September 2005: 19
Number of staff: 840
Strategy
“Over the next three years we plan to expand into new geographical areas as part of our transformation from a medium-size business into a medium/large enterprise. Part of this development will be a focus on the more commercial style contracts which Holroyd Howe has recently proven to be successful in operating.
We have continually strengthened our food and people development resources to ensure we retain our preferred employer status, something our listing in The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work 2006 list bears testimony to.”
Source: company statement, February 2006
Key directors
Founders and joint managing directors: Rick Holroyd, Nick Howe
Finance director: Roy McGregor
Chairman: Derek Johnson
Director of business development: Jeni Edwards
Food development director: Graham Eveleigh
Operations directors: Matthew Thomas, Dennis Stoner, Lesley Pekun
Merritt House
Hill Avenue
Amersham
Buckinghamshire
HP6 5BQ
Tel: 01494 723 844
Fax: 01494 723 845
E-mail: info@holroydhowe.co.uk
Website: http://www.holroydhowe.co.uk
Holroyd Howe’s rapid and profitable expansion lies behind its placing as the 24th fastest-growing company in Europe in the 2005 Europe’s 500 listing.
The group has also featured in the Sunday Times Best 100 Companies to Work ForI listing, shooting up 29 places in 2006 from 94th to 65th position.
