Kitwave CEO Ben Maxted on ‘can-do’ mentality and growth strategy

Since being handed the top job at Kitwave six months ago, new CEO and keen golfer Ben Maxted has found himself returning again and again to the motto of his hero, nine-time major winner Gary Player: the harder you work, the luckier you get.

“What makes us stand out is our can-do mentality, says Maxted. “Whatever we’re asked, we work hard to deliver.” And Kitwave has been delivering, literally and figuratively, for a long time now. Originally founded in 1987 by Paul Young, it’s been on a mission to bring the best products to independent foodservice businesses, many of which are the lifeblood of their communities. After starting small in Tyneside in the north east, there are now 14 companies sitting under the Kitwave umbrella, supplying everyone from local coffee shops and restaurants to small care homes, schools and sports clubs.

Kitwave’s biggest move came in the early 2000s, when it shifted from cash & carry to fully delivered foodservice. It’s not looked back, with bolt-on delivered foodservice acquisitions nudging sales past £600m last year, while the share price has doubled since it floated on AIM in 2021.

‘Our can-do mentality makes us stand out’

Long before the IPO, Kitwave was catching the eye with its buy and build strategy. One of the key early deals, for Kitwave and for Maxted personally, was the acquisition of Eden Farm in 2014.

“Being given the opportunity to run Eden Farm 10 years ago when we bought it was a huge step for me at Kitwave,” he says. “I really embraced the role, and I loved that M&A journey and where it led us.”

The deal marked the first in a flurry of acquisitions for Kitwave. “We’ve moved from a £40m turnover business to over £600m through acquisitions,” he says. “But it was Eden Farm that gave us the blueprint in foodservice.”

Since Eden Farm, it’s gone on to make seven further purchases, and pursuing acquisitions will remain a key part of its strategy, but Maxted insists it will always be driven by fit rather than size or geographic reach.

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“It would be nice to plan an M&A with dots on the map and try to connect them, but it doesn’t work like that for us,” he says. “At Kitwave, growth isn’t about building a national infrastructure to be able to take on contractor work. We leave that part of the market to other big national players like Brakes.”

Its two latest acquisitions, of Devon-based WestCountry in 2022 and Yorkshire-based Total Foodservice earlier this year, are perfect examples. Both were chosen for their excellence in serving existing customers, rather than other considerations.

WestCountry and Total also meet another of Maxted’s rules: Kitwave doesn’t buy turnarounds. All new joiners “need to start working and bringing in cash from day one”, says Maxted. For example, Total Foodservice reported sales of £25.4m in the year to 30 April 2023, with profit before tax of £2m.

“We want well-run businesses with a great management team,” says Maxted. “We look for businesses that are already great and take them to the next level.”

Kitwave as a custodian

Kitwave does that in various ways, from implementing IT innovation to improving delivery routes – but it always makes sure existing customers and the business’s identity remain at the core.

“We keep the name and the culture because it means something to the people, to the customer base and to the local area,” says Maxted. “At the end of the day we’re the custodian of that business, and that’s how we want to keep it. We aim to integrate the business correctly, so that once it’s into the group it continues to thrive. If we failed to do that – well, we’d have just bought a really good business and made it less good.”

One such example is independent wholesaler HB Clark. One year on from its acquisition by Kitwave in 2017, the company achieved an award for sales and marketing excellence and launched its own mobile app.

Earlier this month, Kitwave also altered its buying group arrangements, consolidating supply for its foodservice division into the hands of Country Range Group (CRG), after it had previously been split between Unitas and Fairway Foodservice. Its grocery operations will remain with Unitas.

The move came about after former Country Range member Turner Price was snapped up by the Caterfood Buying Group. This freed up Kitwave to join CRG, as it would not be competing with another north east-based member. By linking its foodservice arm with one of the UK’s biggest buying groups, Kitwave gets access to over 700 CRG lines and centrally negotiated rates.

“We’re delighted to join CRG at a time when we’re strategically growing our own foodservice offering,” says Maxted. “The product portfolio, marketing support and shared knowledge will ensure we continue to improve our offering and service in a sustainable way.”

Maxted will be hoping the move further bolsters Kitwave’s performance. Earlier this month, it followed up on the 20% increase in sales and 40% increase in profits in the year ending October 2023 with an 8% increase in sales to £297m in its half-year results, though pre-tax profits were flat.

Maxted insists, though, that such achievements are not about the ‘how much’, they’re about the ‘how’.

“Clearly, we want to grow turnover, gross and operating profit. But when it comes to how big we can get, there’s no end goal. We don’t talk about a billion-pound turnover, but we do talk about continuing to transact exceptionally every day – that’s how we want to grow.”

And those guiding principles have never changed, despite the rapid growth of the business, Maxted says. After all, “you’re only as good as your latest delivery”, he says. “This is the greatest legacy Paul left us. As he used to say: every day is the most important day.”