BIG INTERVIEW
A supreme customer experience
Steve Lyons, Managing Director of BFP tells Kennedy’s Bakery Production Editor Kiran Grewal all about his plans to re-strategise the company with a focus on bakers
Can you give us a brief background on BFP? BFP was founded in 1932 and was the dominating force in the bakery industry for decades. Unfortunately, it became a victim of its own success, and was bought and sold several times by private equity firms. Ultimately, the business went into receivership in 2016 and was eventually rescued by Kent Foods. Kent Foods is one of Europe’s largest independent suppliers of sugars, sweeteners, dairy products, oils and fats to the food manufacturing industry, so BFP was an obvious fit for the company’s portfolio. Since the acquisition, BFP has undergone a major overhaul, stripping it back to basics and re-building from the ground up. We’ve done this very quietly in the background without drawing any attention to ourselves until we were completely happy with every aspect of the business. Only then were we prepared to re-launch and shout about the new and improved ‘us’. Our re-brand (a heart formed from two whisks) represents who we are and what we stand for perfectly, and our intention is to return BFP to its former glory and reclaim its crown as the industry leader.
After years under the radar, what can we expect of BFP now? A supreme customer experience. You can expect reliability, outstanding value for money and high stock levels – so you need never worry about products being unavailable. We know we haven’t been reliable in the past but we have invested heavily in our fleet and expanded our warehouse capacity. Our product range covers everything a baker needs from core essentials to specialist ingredients, traditional favourites to the latest innovations, and our clear and simple volume discount policy means that the more you buy, the more you benefit.
6 Kennedy’s Bakery Production March/April 2022
Our new and much-improved website is really easy to use with access to real-time stock levels, dietary information and downloadable specifications, and customers earn reward points on every purchase. Our ‘no quibbles guarantee’ ensures any problems are solved quickly. We’ve re-structured our leadership teams so that every customer has a dedicated business development manager teamed with a specified telesales operator for continuity and consistency. We believe the way forward is to create partnerships, and we will be sharing industry data, trends information and marketing support to help and empower customers in all aspects of their business.
Steve, can you tell us your career history? Prior to this role, my career spanned over 30 years in foodservice in a variety of senior to management level roles, covering all aspects of sales, operations and strategic project management. I’ve worked for big corporates as well as family-run businesses, therefore gaining valuable knowledge and experience in a wide range of fields.
What has been your direction and plans for BFP since taking the role of Managing Director?
My first task was to create a strategic five-year plan. I needed to understand what the company was all about and where we wanted it to go. When I joined it was operated as three separate regions but I realised it would be much more effective and efficient if we brought the business together as one. We had a lack of focus so our offer was consequently very ‘watered down’. We were selling to everyone -
bakeryproduction.co.uk
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