How The Flavourworks achieved 10% yearon-year growth

8 “Working with Old Mill is like working with friends who just happen to be accountants and tax specialists.”

Chris Ormrod MD of The Flavourworks

How The Flavourworks achieved 10% year-on-year growth

The Flavourworks is one of the most innovative ingredients suppliers in the UK, creating exciting new flavour ideas for the country’s top supermarkets and foodservice providers.

Established in 1989 by Richard Bancroft (originally as Markus Products), The Flavourworks launch over 250 new lines every year and have developed some 80,000 recipes since the business began.

A time of change

In 2018, The Flavourworks undertook a management buy-in/buy-out to bring in Chris Ormrod as the new MD, enabling Richard to retire. The challenges faced by the business were not untypical of many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the sub-£20m turnover bracket.

For this project we focused on four main areas:

• Succession planning • Attracting investment to take advantage of new market opportunities • Broadening the product range, steering away from commodity items and creating higher margin, value-added products • Restructuring

The solution centred on a recapitalisation, and structuring a management buy-in, with the Old Mill team playing a pivotal advisory role.

Forecasting and due diligence

As corporate finance specialists, we worked with Michelle Keating (The Flavourworks’ Finance Director) to create a financial model that would meet the due diligence requirements for bank lending.

We also supported The Flavourworks through its due diligence process and worked with lawyers to draw up a deal structure that would be acceptable to HMRC, while enabling the individuals involved to attain their desired outcomes. As part of this process, Old Mill helped with the critical tax clearance application to enable The Flavourworks to secure HMRC advanced clearance.

Project future

With investment now secured, Old Mill, as the trusted advisers, moved on to helping The Flavourworks to adapt the financial model prepared for due diligence into a sophisticated forecasting model that will allow them to both budget for the next 12 months, and create a five-year plan for the future under the new leadership.

To find out how we can help you and your business, please get in touch with our expert team.

Chris Ormrod MD, The Flavourworks 01963 435270 info@theflavourworks.co.uk