Exclusive: Seabrook takes a bigger bite of the market

The Bradford-based firm, which is owned by Conservative Party donor Ken Brook-Chrispin, said investment in its manufacturing base and increased supermarket listings had helped it provide tougher competition to market leader Walkers Crisps.

It comes as Mr Brook-Chrispin warned that businesses were having to make even deeper cuts than those seen in the public sector.

“You cannot have the gain without the pain. We have been in good times and we have to start paying for them. Three years ago we had ‘never had it so good’.”

Seabrook’s sales rose nearly a fifth to £28.33m last year, up from £23.84m, as it converted casual customers into regular buyers. Pre-tax profits inched up to £1.55m, compared to £1.54m, despite the boom in commodity and petrol prices raising the cost of potatoes, flavours, cooking oil, packaging and transport.

Managing director John Tague told the Yorkshire Post: “People are having a go at a different product and staying with it. (Now) there is another competitor in the marketplace. Our product quality is exceptional.”

Seabrook added another 25,000 retail facings for the year to October 3, helping it to grow awareness among shoppers. It now has a 4.8 per cent share of the market, up from 1.3 per cent in 2009.

Its products, which range from orthodox Smokey Bacon to Hot & Spicy Desi Curry, are now sold in 700 to 800 Tesco stores and 300 Asda branches.

Mr Tague said the firm will push its Hot & Spicy and Goodbye Salt, Hello Flavour ranges as it continues to grow market share. It aims to reach 10 per cent within three to five years.

“We will pinch market share (from rivals) but we have some good innovations and some good products that come out this year. I don’t think there are many products that can match us on quality.”

Seabrook wants to grow further in southern England and last month it agreed £6.5m capital injection from HSBC, which will allow it to invest in infrastructure. It is ramping up its production capacity, having invested £8m to £10m over the last three years, helped by parent company RJJ Management, which is owned by Mr Brook-Chrispin, and two weeks ago it placed an order for a £1m bagging facility. It has also invested in ‘pillow-pack’ equipment, so it can produce sacks of 24 crisp bags, which has long been done by Walkers

Seabrook’s accounts show it increased efficiency last year but it wants to avoid being drawn into a full-scale price war, however, and Mr Tague said it has passed on about 40 per cent of its cost increases.

“Raw materials are going through the roof,” Mr Tague said.

“Every component has gone up. It has been a fairly tough year for everybody in manufacturing.

“We have to be best in class in manufacturing to compete. We compete on price but try to avoid that becoming the norm – it is not sustainable... We are not the cheapest crisps but we are at a fair price – that we will maintain.”

The directors’ report also warns of the impact of global market swings on the cost of its essential ingredients, although it is taking steps to mitigate this.

“The main raw materials used by the company are agricultural commodities (potatoes and sunflower oil) and are therefore subject to large fluctuations in prices on a daily basis.”

The firm’s distribution costs increased by nearly a third (30.6 per cent) as total sales rose and administration costs rose more than a fifth (21.8 per cent) as it invested in sales and marketing. Its operating profit was £1.52m, up from £1.48m.

An early taste of the exotic

Seabrook founder Colin Brook started supplying local pubs in the 1940s at a time when crisps were still considered a faintly exotic accompaniment to a pint.

He bought the old Liberal Club in Allerton, near Bradford, in 1958, which was its manu-facturing base for 45 years. In 2003, the company moved to Duncombe Street in Bradford. Ken-Brook-Chrispin, the chairman and chief execu tive, previously supported the Blah! party, which called on John Prescott to lose weight and was led by punk musician Captain Sensible.

The Blah! party is “on hold” and is being run by the Monster Raving Loony Party.