Woodward Foodservice chief executive Ed Hyslop was a late addition to the line-up of speakers at Catersummit last week, after his company took over DBC Foodservice.
DBC managing director Peter Judge had been due to make a presentation to Catersummmit, but left after its acquisition by Woodward, and Hyslop accepted an invitation to deliver a paper instead.
Hyslop said the plans to develop a major player in foodservice dated back to 1997 when he and Iceland founder Malcolm Walker decided there was a substantial opportunity for another big player.
They took over Woodward, a small regional company with a turnover £12m and 98 staff. With the acquisition of DBC it now had a turnover of £520m and was the third largest foodservice company in the UK.
He said the future strategy of the company was to become "the most successful" supplier to the catering market.
He added: "Not necessarily the biggest, but success will be measured by the fastest growing, the most profitable, the best place to work and the easiest to do business with."
Will Government proposals to ban the display of tobacco in retail premises damage the wholesale sector?
- 27 November, 2008
FWD Annual Dinner & Gold Medal Awards
