Category UK Company Reports 2023
The Parker family’s Middlesborough-based Greencroft Milk Supplies, supplying 370,000 litres of milk a week in doorstep deliveries and to convenience stores, bakeries and catering—who also sell and lease forklift trucks and other machinery, which make up the bulk of these accounts—reported pre-tax profit almost doubling to £359,200 on turnover down 9.1% to £14.0m for the year to Oct 2023. Operating profit was up 41% to £354,000, increasing their operating margin from 1.6% to 2.5%. Dividends of £45,000 were paid (2022: £148,000). Net debt was cut by 8.0% to £2.4m. Staff numbers were up one to 88, with about 30 employed in the milk business. Net assets were reported twice without explanation—up 9.3% to £2.3m and also down 0.6% to £2.0m. ——The dairy subsidiary, North Lakes Foods, is reported separately only in abbreviated form but the directors stated that margins were “under significant pressure”. New “strategic alliances” made with other northeast-based operators in the milk sector both increased sales and reduced overhead costs in 2023, the first full year of impact, the directors said. Does this leave them vulnerable to competition law over product pricing?
