Taking the lead gets firm hooked on fresh approach
A new planning process is making a difference for one highly-motivated business leader, says STEWART BARNES of Quolux in his latest Gamechanger column
NOT many people associate Fairford with fish, yet it is home to one of the county’s leading purveyors of fresh fish, and shellfish.
New Wave Seafood was founded by Tim Boyd in 1989 to provide top-quality produce to some of the most discerning restaurants in the heart of England.
In his first year of business, Tim was just a man with a van and a passion.
With its 30th anniversary in 2019, the company has gone from strength to strength and employs more than 85 experienced staff and has a fleet of 20 refrigerated vans, delivering to more than 600 loyal, satisfied customers, six days a week in 12 counties – including 12 restaurants with Michelin stars.
It supplies superb-quality, responsibly sourced seafood to restaurants, hotels and caterers, plus other fine foods including Cotswold game and fresh seasonal produce, cheeses, wild mushrooms, speciality oils and vinegars, plus a vast selection of dry goods.
This enables it to provide the busy chef with everything through its New Wave Fine Foods division.
The firm owns Kelynack Cornish Fish, giving them a valuable base on the Cornish coast and further access to a network of small local fishing boats that land regularly and exclusively for the company.
For many years Tim has worked closely with Scott Lawrence, a partner at Hazlewoods which is one of the UK’S top 30 independent chartered accountants and business advisers.
As Tim’s thoughts turned to how to achieve the next stage of growth, Scott introduced Tim to Quolux’s LEAD programme.
Immediately Tim began working on a segmented marketing plan to better understand where the company was making money and which type of clients New Wave Seafood should be focusing on.
This was a game changer for Tim.
He recruited an operations manager and an IT specialist who between them analysed existing sales, costs and margins to give a better understanding of the current financial position.
A sales plan was created focusing on a prioritised list of clients who were contacted with renewed gusto. Individual client plans have been agreed and a step change in sales and profitability has been realised. New sales meetings have been initiated and Tim has established a new management team around him to support him further.
“It is amazing what you can learn from a highly-focused audit of your sales data,” he said.
“In a very short period of time, my senior team and I have gained a far greater insight, understanding and grip on our key products and key market segments than we have ever had previously, and we have implemented robust plans to grow.
“We also have rigorous and regular reviews. “Everyone is energised, and what’s more, we’re seeing the bottom line benefits.”