The Perfect Marriage
BaxterSmith and Wilson Storey Halliday undertook the next logical step when they merged at the end of November 2004, trading under the new incorporated name of BaxterStorey from the beginning of this year. Established in 2000, BaxterSmith was privately owned and managed by William Baxter and Mike Smith, its founding directors. Wilson Storey Halliday, on the other hand, was owned and managed by Keith Wilson, Alastair Storey and Linda Halliday, and formed following the merger of Wilson Storey and Halliday Catering.
Wilson Storey Halliday was the UK's largest independently owned contract specialist food service management company, with an annual turnover of £75 million. Combining these figures with BaxterSmith's £30 million turnover, has created a new tier in the independent market, as William Baxter explains: "The benefit of this new business is that we now have the combined strengths of a very senior management team with over 100 years of contract catering between us. With the BaxterSmith team we bring entrepreneurial flair and good marketing skills to the company. Furthermore, Alastair brings an excellent team in terms of process, computer skills and financial acumen, and they have, I believe, more commerciality than we do. Consequently you've got a perfect marriage, a small entrepreneurial company with a team that has had 25 years of experience of working with some of the largest companies in the country. In essence, we have the best of both worlds and the combination of the two businesses is nothing short of dynamic."
The merger has also meant a combination of the respective client bases with plans to dramatically expand this area in the future. In the meantime, William clarifies: "I don't think there's a great deal of change in our customer lists so far. Clients of BaxterSmith have always tended to be blue chip companies such as DaimlerChrysler, Marks & Spencer along with large law firms including Herbert Smith and Slaughter and May. Wilson Storey Halliday has had a much more diverse client base.
"Obviously any healthy company must grow and expand its customer list and we have a very proficient sales team that are continuously knocking on doors explaining that BaxterStorey is able to offer them anything and everything. They aim to make it clear that we can provide the complete package - the resources and processes of a large company and the nimbleness and flexibility of an entrepreneurial small company. Consequently, our focus is to be better caterers in the next 12 months and to ensure that our existing client base is well looked after.
"However, at this point, we are increasingly looking at the very large contracts. I consider this an opportunity for us to eradicate some of the concerns these very large companies have about small businesses and their stability. We are now in the position to begin targeting those companies and also the diverse geographical businesses that have many sites around the UK. Following this merger, we now have national coverage and most certainly have the infrastructure to cope with decentralised businesses. For example we are tendering for companies like the Environment Agency that has 22 restaurants across the UK. This would have been almost impossible as a smaller company but as a combined force we are a very serious player in that market sector today."
Now as a larger participant in the industry, BaxterStorey is looking to maintain its reputation as a forerunner in contract catering: "We have a very strong sales force and marketing team and our job is to keep abreast of the latest trends in the marketplace and make sure that we are not staid in our ways. We are always striving to stay fresh and creative in our approach.
"We're looking to be a safe pair of hands for our customers, in one respect, but at the same time we also want to be slightly edgy as we try to make and develop trends, bringing them to the contract catering market as and when they happen. We want to be innovators and are therefore not afraid to make mistakes. I believe that if you are going to be creative and use your flare and innovation to try and keep ahead of the competition, by the very definition, sometimes you will make mistakes and what is important is how you treat those mistakes."
Moving on, William feels that the ingredients used and where they come from can frequently be the determining factor for companies deciding which caterer to turn to. He adds: "We're completely flexible in the procurement process. In other words, we understand the benefits of having fewer suppliers, although we encourage the use of new and local suppliers, and as we are striving to be more creative, so are they. We consider ourselves to be product-driven rather than supply-driven and if we notice a new product from a small supplier that has not been selected, we will not hesitate to nominate it.
"We have been trading with many of our suppliers for a very long time and there is most certainly a partnership mentality as we understand them as they do us. Bearing in mind the synergy between BaxterSmith and Wilson Storey Halliday is very strong and most of our suppliers were common suppliers, we have both always believed wholly in local suppliers making us very much fresh food companies. Furthermore, you get very good deals from local suppliers who want to bend over backwards to deliver and ensure their products are completely fresh."
He adds: "We aim to keep our suppliers on their toes as well but we are not aggressive. We believe that it has got to be a win-win situation for both the suppliers and us. It's a vital concept - they have got to want to supply us and each has got to recognise where the other is coming from. Occasionally they get it wrong but we always give them the opportunity to put it right. We are not draconian in our management style nor in the way in which we manage our suppliers. We'd rather have a relationship where they value what we are trying to achieve as a company, because once they understand, they are more likely to be able to deliver exactly what we need."
Following on from the merger, William outlines how the company will continue to drive the market and continuously improve standards: "We have two key development chefs, Adam Nossek and Rick Razza. Adam was BaxterSmith's develop-ment chef, whereas Rick was Wilson Storey Halliday's. Mike Smith along with Noel Mahony, the joint managing directors of BaxterStorey each has a development chef under them. They get together to thoroughly analyse the requirements and needs of our customers, which incorporates the extra care, style and innovation you only get with creative chefs. They then go around the company engendering this culture of care and of really taking a pride in what we produce.
"In addition, they develop recipes and concepts, which are then communicated through a chef's forum, where all senior chefs in the company get together four times a year. Part of this process includes discussing menu ideas and presentation styles in addition to the purchasing process, which usually involves discussions of which suppliers are performing well, which are being creative, and which are being innovative. This shared information is then passed on for the benefit of all."
With the future in mind, William continues: "We haven't any other major plans or developments at the moment as we're now looking for a period of consolidation. This is a very important step and this period of internal reassessment will ensure that we're doing everything as well as we possibly can. So we're going to be very measured in our approach for the next 12 months, it's almost like going back to basics, making sure the training process is first class, the atmosphere and motivation of the team is excellent, the delivery to the customer is extremely brilliant and the food on the plate is exceptional. I also believe that our attention to detail, delivering what we promise and 'the-client-is-king' mentality has made us both very successful. By focusing on the clients we already have for the next 12 months, and having them respond by saying that we have performed outstandingly and raised our game, is exactly what we're after."
Concluding, William adds: "We have offices in Manchester, Glasgow and are looking to merge the offices in Amersham and Wokingham into a new head office.
"We're not looking to expand offices as we strongly believe in creating a team atmosphere and if you're all under one roof you're more likely to engender the kind of team spirit we're looking for. As soon as we have consolidated and put everything in order, we will look to grow organically, using our existing client base as our biggest sales tool."
-x- Article from the FoodChain Magazine Online : Mar / Apr 05 -x-
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