17 Finsbury Food Group Annual Report & Accounts 2018
Chief Executive's Report
But it means they can do their day job, and do it well, without having to worry about matters such as IT change, or Group purchasing of insurance, and similar. It also means we benefit from common insights into consumer trends, or common approaches to maintenance and safety, for example. It's really a way of looking to improve the sum of the parts and gain some leverage from being a larger Group.
We believe brilliant baking makes every day special, so are applying brilliance to the entire process. To be brilliant we have to constantly raise standards, inspire innovation and work effectively as a Group. We've developed the Finsbury 'Recipe for Growth' and Operating Principles, which allow all our businesses to understand and use the strengths of the Group, and benefit from common approaches such as the Group-wide IT platform mentioned previously, and our new Group-wide people strategy.
Tell me more about this people strategy?
Our people strategy is now entering into its third year. It includes talent management and leadership development programmes, with increased investment in training. We've also conducted our second employee engagement survey. It all underpins our belief that maximising the potential and contribution of our people is essential to unlocking the longer-term potential of the business.
On the subject of our people, I must also say the scale of change management we've undertaken this year is unprecedented. I travel around meeting people, who are often also travelling around the Group. Our work is putting additional demands on teams across the Group, over and above their normal day jobs. And the jobs themselves, using craft skills to develop and make craft products, for demanding customers, day in, day out. Our people still take time to put the effort in. They have responded brilliantly, and I'm very grateful for that.
As for further development of the Group, your strategy talks about growth through acquisition?
With further acquisitions we can introduce new product, customer or channel diversification, or accelerate market consolidation in our main product areas. This year, we continued to explore several acquisition opportunities without finding the right balance of risk and reward. However, we were delighted to have completed the acquisition of Free From baker, Ultrapharm, shortly after the year end. This offers the Group a significant opportunity to increase our access to an exciting and high-growth marketplace. We remain committed to future acquisition-led growth as part of our strategy.
That brings us on to the future. What's your view on the outlook for Finsbury Food Group?
We are looking ahead at steady organic growth, which is no bad thing in the market we're in, but the desire remains to be a strong competitor within our bakery markets. The Free From growth opportunity open to us in the UK and Europe through the above-mentioned acquisition of Ultrapharm is a good example of how we can increase scale through acquisition. This follows three years where we've benefited from optimising the growth platform we've built, and where we are now capable of taking the next steps competently. Three years I think we've put to good use.
John Duffy Chief Executive Officer 14 September 2018
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