Record turnover for Henderson Foodservice as Fresh Connections pave way for future
13th February 2024
TWENTY-twenty-three was Henderson Foodservice’s best ever year, it was announced at the company’s annual staff conference recently.
Managing Director Cathal Geoghegan announced sales in 2023 reached £225 million, an increase of 19.7% on 2022, which Mr Geoghegan attributed to “teamwork and everyone pitching in towards a common goal”.
Mr Geoghegan added; “We have experienced growth across every area of the business, from contracts to online orders, sales from which contributed to 45% of overall sales for the year.”
Whilst looking back on a successful year, the head of the company which is part of Henderson Group, looked towards 2024 with “Fresh Connections” driving the company’s ambitions for the year.
“This year we will be enhancing our premium ambitions from fresh foods right through to our services and expertise, we’ll be investing even more in our people development and our brand journey, which will see us bring our offering to even more regions across the island of Ireland.”
The conference continued with panels and speakers, including Commercial and Development Director Mark Stewart-Maunder introducing the audience to some new and exclusive fresh food suppliers, including K&G McAtamney Wholesale Meats, which was announced as an exclusive new supplier to Henderson Foodservice just last month.
Sales Director, Kiera Campbell welcomed two local hoteliers, Eddie McKeever and James McGinn to discuss the impact and importance of customer connections, while the company’s logistics and operations team revealed the advances in their sustainability journey the company was contributing towards the Group’s overall ambitions.
Host, comedian and musician Emer Maguire officiated the evening proceedings, which saw over 200 staff, suppliers and charity partners throwback to the ‘80s with an awesome display of fancy dress for the themed gala awards and dinner.
The evening was dedicated to rewarding staff for their unparalleled efforts throughout the year, from their events and fundraising activities dedicated to raising £46,500, which has been divided equally between their three charity partners; PIPs, NI Children’s Hospice and Jack & Jill Foundation, to their performances within their individual roles.
Henderson Foodservice’s VIP Awards of Excellence are based on the company’s values of ambition, customer first, teamwork and integrity and recognise colleagues who exercise those values day in, day out.
Throughout 14 categories, Elaine Truesdale was the big winner on the night, not only taking home the Customer First Award but the overall Employee of the Year Award. Cathal Geoghegan said; “Elaine always puts in maximum effort and is consistently a go-to person who works across all departments. She is highly regarded across the entire business after being with us for almost 35 years and we’re delighted to present her with this much-deserved award.”
Other winners included Barista Bar Brand Manager, Keavy O’Mahony-Truesdale who won the Personal Ambition Award; Business Development Chef, Geoff Baird for the Volunteer Award; Replenishment Buying Manager, Kylie Crawford who won the Internal Service Award, and Business Development Executive, Sean McGarry who won Sales Person of the Year. (Full list of winners in notes to editors)
Mr Geoghegan finished; “Our annual conference and awards have been a fantastic opportunity to reignite and re-engage all of our teams and align them with our goals for 2024, where we have ambitious targets and exciting announcements to come.
“I’m particularly proud of the fantastic work our colleagues have done in the past year, while also taking part in our many charitable initiatives to raise such a fantastic amount for our charity partners. On the night, we raised an additional £9,300 which will also be split between those very deserving organisations.”
