Safety equipment giant Arco looks to 'set agenda for next decade' after profit fall

Operating profit was £5.8m, down from £18.4m in 2020/21.

Guy Bruce, who was appointed as the company’s new chief executive officer in December, told The Yorkshire Post: "What we’re basically seeing is a normalisation of demand on the top line and to some extent the bottom line back to the average of the couple of periods pre-pandemic.

"The pandemic distorted the results of all sorts of businesses for all sorts of reasons but particularly in the PPE world for the obvious reasons. We are getting back to normal but my arrival will determine what the new normal will be.”

Arco was founded in 1884 and has been run for generations by the Martin family. It employs more than 1,600 people nationwide.

Mr Bruce said his arrival is part of a change of management strategy which is also involving an ongoing review into business operations due to be completed in the next four to six months.

He said: "There are three drivers to what we are doing at the moment.

"One, as all disciplined businesses would do periodically, we are conducting a strategic review. That is just good business.

"The second one is we are transitioning from a family-run to a family-owned business. The family owned it and ran it, now the family owns it and I run it and report to the board.

"Thirdly, identifying what the opportunities are to really set the agenda for the next decade or two. This business has a 135-year history, we don’t deal in two or three year plans. That was one of the huge attractions for me.”

Mr Bruce said the review is looking at delivery capability following global supply chain challenges.

Planned changes include a more user-friendly purchasing experience for companies using Arco’s services. He added the company has extremely strong fundamentals to build on.

"There are things that absolutely won’t change. The culture won’t change, the values won’t change, the absolute focus and passion for the sector won’t change."