Palmer and Harvey

Palmer and Harvey had four business platforms: Distribution, Multiple Retail, Independent Retail and Wholesale. Each is aimed at the needs of a broad client base, supplying customers with a range of produce from fresh sandwiches to shoelaces.[3]

Palmer and Harvey underwent management buy outs in 2002 and 2008, the latter led by Chief Executive Chris Etherington in a deal which valued the business at £330m. The equity of Palmer and Harvey is held by current and former employees. Since 2008 almost £77 million was paid to senior employees before the company collapsed with debts of £65 million. Chris Etherington has faced calls to repay a £3.4 million loan he received from the company that would only normally be repayable if he sold his (now worthless) shares in the business. The failed company has a pension fund with a deficit of £80 million. The Sunday Times quoted PricewaterhouseCoopers as saying: “In line with their statutory responsibilities, the administrators will investigate the circumstances leading to the failure of the business in due course.”[4][5][6]

P&H House, the company's headquarters in Hove

• 1925 – Palmer and Harvey is founded by Archie Stone, who buys two wholesale businesses from a Mr Palmer and a Mr Harvey in North London and merges them into one.
• 1959 – Sir Don Gosling becomes a director after he marries Shauna Ingram, a member of the family which owns Palmer & Harvey.
• 1988 – Sir Don Gosling quits after his divorce, but returns after a management buyout.[7]
• 1994 – P&H acquires McLane, the UK offshoot of the US business.
• 1995 – Mojo Cash & Carry and frozen food distributor Snowking Foods are acquired by P&H. Warehouse and fleet size are both increased.
• 1998 – Pro Retail, P&H's annual trade show, is launched and P&H acquires Winerite, a BWS wholesaler in Yorkshire running 650 BWS product lines.
• 1998 – P&H launches Your Store.
• 1999 – P&H sign a long term distribution contract with TM Retail Group and Snowking Foods is merged with the ambient arm of P&H business, supported by a 190,000 sq ft (18,000 m²) multi-temperature depot in Coventry.
• 1999 – P&H sells the Select and Save brand name to Larnheath Ltd and acquires Booker Wholesale Foods from Booker plc. The symbol group Mace is included in this sale, giving P&H greater exposure in England and Wales.
• 2000 – P&H purchases YP Electronics, acquires Snacksdirect from KP McVities and acquires supplier status to 85 Esso forecourts.
• 2001 – P&H acquires a 200,000 sq ft (19,000 m²) depot in Crawley, begins supplying to Sainsbury's petrol filling stations and secures a long term distribution with Shell UK Ltd to supply core and noncore food ranges.
• 2002 P&H undergoes a second management buyout.
• 2005 – P&H acquires the franchise for the Mace symbol group in Scotland from Somerfield, previously operated by Aberness Foods.
• 2006 – P&H wins the supply contract for the CTN chain Northcliffe Retail (supplying 66 company-owned stores and 250 retail partner stores) worth £75m a year; Chris Etherington is appointed as Chief Executive, joining P&H from motor parts wholesaler Unipart Automotive.
• 2007 – P&H acquires West Country delivered wholesaler T&A Symonds, a member of the Key Lekkerland Group.
• 2008 – P&H acquires Leeds-based delivered wholesaler WH & HM Young, a member of the Key Lekkerland Group, and launches its new Partnership Plus initiative to provide a tailored business growth package to independent and symbol group retailers.
• 2008 – P&H reaches £4bn in turnover; a third management buyout is completed, led by current chief executive Chris Etherington. The deal, valuing the business at £330m, offers 50% of its shares to management and employees.
• 2009 – P&H Launches Sweetdirect, a direct-to-store van sales operation selling products from Perfetti Van Melle, Tangerine Confectionery, Weetabix (until July 2012), Kelloggs Cereal Bars (from July 2012), Reckitt Benkiser Medicines, Lindt, Bon Bon Buddies and a variety of UK chocolate products.
• 2010 – P&H announces record sales of £4.2bn, with profit falling by 50% to £227,000.[8]
• 2011 – P&H release Fuel Deserts, a research paper that looks into the state of the UK's forecourt industry.[9]
• 2012 – P&H acquires the Walkers Van sales operation.[10]
• August 2017 – Imperial Tobacco and JTI attempt to come to an agreement with P&H over the terms of a "rescue deal" to secure the company's future.
• October 2017 – P&H entered into talks with the Carlyle Group for the company's equity to be taken over by Carlyle.
• 28 November 2017 – Palmer and Harvey goes into administration, with the loss of 2,500 jobs, due to problems with working capital, high debt and a low profit margin, having earned in 2016 only £618,000 on sales of £2.5bn.[1][2]

• Group website
• Mace