Kitwave acquires Creed Foodservice

Kitwave Wholesale Group has bought out Creed Foodservice, which will become the largest member of the wholesaler’s foodservice division alongside David Miller Frozen Foods, Total Foodservice, MJ Baker Foodservice and Westcountry Food Holdings.

With Creed’s scale, Kitwave’s foodservice division will increase to 10 (16 including the on-trade business), with a total customer base of 10,700 across education, healthcare, leisure, hospitality, business and industry, and out-of-home sectors. Annual revenues should approach £275m.

Following the takeover, Creed’s distribution centres will remain in Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, Ilkeston in Derbyshire and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire.

There will also be no changes to the Creed depot, operational, sales, head office teams, management team and board. Chris Creed remains chief executive, with Philip de Ternant continuing as chairman, responsible for the strategic overview and integration into the foodservice division.

Miles Roberts will continue to be managing director and Philip Creed, the other family member involved in the business, will continue to support the company’s sustainability initiatives.

Chris Creed said the company has been evaluating its plans to take the business to the next stage for some time: “Our objectives have always been to keep the Creed name, remain a member of the [foodservice buying group] Country Range Group, secure the right investment and strengthen our infrastructure and capacity to secure our long-term growth; and I’m pleased to say that all these goals have been achieved,” he said.

He said the move “strengthens our position within the market, offering the best possible outcome for our business, people and customers”.

Ben Maxted, chief exeutive at North Shields-headquartered Kitwave, added: “Strategically, Creed will significantly expand our geographical presence, bridging our operations in the north and south and creating a fully integrated national delivery network. We are looking forward to working with Creed’s dedicated and experienced team and excited to see our foodservice division continue to go from strength to strength.”

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.