By Jon Robinson
Turnover at national butchers Althams continued its post-pandemic rise during its latest financial year while its profits also grew, newly-filed documents have confirmed.
Althams Butchers, which is headquartered in Morecambe, Lancashire, has posted a turnover of £14.9m for the 12 months to March 31, 2023, up from £11.7m.
Its sales had slumped to just £4.7m during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The newly filed accounts with Companies House also show that Althams’ pre-tax profits grew from £441,234 to £854,333.
A statement signed off by the board said: “The view of the directors is that one of the company’s main strengths is excellent debtors and creditor control.
“This strict cash control is maintained by close contact with customers so that credit difficulties are avoided by early action.
“Inflation pressures during FY23 have been challenging but the business has been able to adapt and manage these by high growth and maintaining service levels at an above industry average.
“Fixed energy contracts have provided new stability for on-going costs into FY24.”
The company was founded in 1856 and its main activities include the hospitality, hotel and restaurant trade with a small number of retail businesses.
During the financial year, the average number of people employed by the company rose by two to 68. Its headcount had totalled 123 in the final year before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
Althams added: “The directors are running the business with a ‘hands-on approach’ together with a smaller, but effective senior management team.
“The business maintains a strong, balanced customer base and the inflationary costs have now passed.
“In the medium term, the company will continue to strive to improve profitability by continuous improvement.”
