A fine over the death of one of its delivery drivers caused Westons to swing to a loss, newly filed accounts for the cidermaker have revealed.
Westons made an operating profit of £1.1m in the year ended 31 March 2024, down from £1.6m in the year prior, the accounts showed.
However, exceptional items of £1.4m contributed to the supplier falling into the red. It recorded pre-tax losses of £1m, a swing from the £1.5m profit before tax reported in the year prior.
Westons MD Helen Thomas said the exceptional items were attributable to a fine levied against the company in November 2023 following the accidental death of one of its employees in 2020.
Thomas Manns died on his 65th birthday on 28 September 2020 when a barrier at Westons’ production facility was left partially open and penetrated the windshield of his van.
Investigators from the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found Westons had failed to undertake a suitable and sufficient risk assessment following the barrier’s installation a month earlier.
It also failed to implement a safe system of work to ensure the barrier could be secured safely when open and closed, they concluded.
Westons pleaded guilty to two breaches of health and safety regulations and – in a statement released at the time – said it had “worked closely” with HSE to “ensure nothing like this can happen again”.
Revenues at Westons in the 12 months ended 31 March, meanwhile, climbed 12% to £105.2m.
Westons had “outperformed the cider market despite unprecedented economic pressures”, Thomas said. She highlighted the performance of Henry Westons Vintage, which had “significantly strengthened” its position in the off-trade, growing 17%.
Stowford Press had “faced difficult challenges” in the on-trade including poor weather and reduced consumer spending, said Thomas. However, it had made “significant gains” in the off-trade, with distribution gains helping sales climb by 37%, she added.
Increased production costs and “a competitive market” led to a decline in Westons’ percentage gross margin, which fell from 26.8% to 25.2%.
A review of the company’s Westons Australia unit, meanwhile, resulted in a £0.3m provision being posted against its investment in the subsidiary.
Westons Australia had “continued to face a difficult economic and structural climate” and remained loss-making, Thomas said.
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