Parfetts opens new depot in Birmingham

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street on Wednesday (22) opened the new state-of-the-art Parfetts wholesale cash & carry depot in Birmingham.

Parfetts is an employee-owned company, and the Birmingham site is its eighth cash and carry depot. The operation will create over 100 new jobs and help thousands of retailers across the Midlands access great value offers and expertise through the company’s extensive network of development advisers.

Commenting on the launch, Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: “Given my time at John Lewis, I’ve always had an affinity for employee-owned businesses. That’s why it’s wonderful to welcome Parfetts to our region, and I very much look forward to seeing them go from strength to strength in the months and years ahead – helping our retail sector to advance.”

Parfetts operates depots in Aintree, Anfield, Birmingham, Halifax, Middlesbrough, Sheffield, Sommercoates and Stockport. Its operations cover Northumberland to Wales, the Midlands and Northamptonshire.

The company supports over 1,100 retailers through its Go Local and The Local fascia group and operates a retail club with over 5,000 members.

Parfetts revenue reached a record £570m last year, and the new Birmingham depot is an important part of its growth plans. In addition to traditional retail lines and a strong on-trade proposition, the business carries over 1000 foodservice-specific products complemented by the availability of non-foodservice specific lines. This includes licensed products, bar necessities, non-foods and catering disposables.

Commenting on the launch, Guy Swindell, joint managing director of Parfetts, said: “Our team has worked hard to launch the new Birmingham depot in a short period of time. It was great to have their hard work recognised by the Mayor. We can’t wait to bring the benefits of our employee-owned model to independent retailers across the region.”

Parfetts was established as a family business in 1980, a majority was sold to an Employee Trust Board in 2008, and the company became fully employee-owned in October 2018. A desire to build a sustainable company based on sound governance and engaged employees were at the heart of the decision to move to employee ownership.