established in 2005, this is a niche business, supplying branded food and drink products to wholesale traders around the world, offering a wide range of branded products in the following categories; • beers and spirits • breakfast cereal • coffee • condiments • pasta & rice • snacks • soft drinks • wine the business has gone from strength to strength by consistently offering the very latest in food and drink products using only the best transport companies to ensure that their clients receive all their goods in perfect condition. Storage and warehouse facilities are in the netherlands, france and spain enabling the company to provide a call off service for delivery to customers at short notice. A uk based sales representative is on hand 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to receive and process orders which can be made via the company’s interactive website, which is designed for use by registered wholesale traders, to place new orders, repeat orders and review old orders. However, funds are collected under escrow by the holland based bond warehouse. The business has an impressive and growing database of regular and past clients. Currently the company dispatches on average 30-45 container orders per calendar month. Through its impressive and diverse range of products, the company constantly strives to improve its services and the satisfaction level of its clientele. Behind the scenes, the strong administration of the business ensures that the business responds quickly to customer orders. With turnover of approximately 12 million euros generating a gross margin of approximately 6% and a net profit of between 4 and 5% this is an excellent opportunity for an established trader operating in the wholesale food and drink sector through an acquisition which promises tremendous potential and has a history of consistent, organic growth. Key strengths: the business retails high quality, very desirable branded products. The company has a long history of organic growth which has been maximised through diversification in its product range and underpinned by its fast turnaround service. The well designed, informative and easy to navigate website is easily accessible, displays the wide range of stocked lines in a simple fashion with a quick find procedure and a fast and uncomplicated transaction process. A large proportion of the business's revenue has been due to its excellent reputation for quality products, competitive pricing and high levels of customer service, which ensures a high level of repeat business and customer retention/loyalty. This, together with the company’s high quality website, ensures the company profile is maximised. This business has a worldwide customer database with a high proportion of repeat customers. It operates with a comfortable, yet professional, working atmosphere with excellent customer and supplier relationships. Key opportunities: there is an outstanding opportunity to build on the existing products and customer base of this business. With a strong demand for its products combined with a capacity to increase turnover, a new owner contributing fresh ideas and motivation will have every advantage of building on an excellent platform. As an e-commerce based business which is easily scaleable, there is unlimited growth potential within this business particularly as the business is based on a company structure that can easily accommodate growth into new areas. There is certainly scope to expand the product range and the geographical reach of the business into wholesale markets around the word. Customer profile: this business has a wide ranging customer base with no customer representing more than 12.5% of total sales. The largest customer spends in euros, per annum are: • customer a: 1.5m (vietnam) • customer b: 1m turnover (singapore) • customer c: 1m (australia) • customer d: 1m (australia) • customer e: 1m (australia) • customer f: 250.k (holland) marketing and advertising: by far the strongest and most effective marketing tool for this business is its industry wide reputation for high quality products at competitive prices – and its fast turnaround service which encourages trial from a high volume of customers as a result of strong word-of-mouth recommendation. Not surprisingly for a web based business marketing is focussed on the internet. The website has a name that is easy to recall and has been designed for ease of use, making purchasing products as easy and enjoyable as possible. The website is fully secure to give customers total peace of mind and offers the convenience of placing an order at home or at work, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The website is divided into separate categories with an easy search and find facility and advanced search directory. The business benefits from high levels of click thru activity. The top 10 referrer domains are: rank domain amount % 1 20 2 18 3 15 4 13 5 12 6 6 7 5 8 4 9 4 10 3
