PROFILE: Richard Majewski - Headland Foods...
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PROFILE: RICHARD
MAJEWSKI Working
his way way up from the bottom after leaving school with his A levels,
Richard is proud of the contribution
he has made in helping to create Headland Foods a more than
significant player in the frozen ready meals sector. It is the passion
for the business and the passion for the food industry that enthuses
him & his team…and gets him out of the bed in the morning.
VITAL
STATISTICS: COMPANY:
Headland
Foods Ltd TITLE:
Deputy
Managing Director DATE
OF BIRTH: 15/09/49 EDUCATION: Attended
Forest Hill comprehensive in South London, leaving with a clutch
of O levels and science A levels for a job in telesales with Buxted
Poultry in telesales. FAMILY:
Wife
and two daughters. HOBBIES: Sailing,
angling and gardening CAREER TO DATEPRESENT
JOB & RESPONSIBILITIES: Having
started in the food industry since he was 21 years old, Richard
is currently Deputy MD and is responsible for the wide ranging portfolio
of sales, marketing, product development and purchasing. Having
such a broad range of responsibilities is a good thing, as you don't
often have the same person dealing with both ends,he says. This
is for the two Headland factories in Flint, North Wales, and Grimsby
the new 100,000 sq ft site that Headlands invested £17 million
in building. Business growth is good
for Headland at the moment which is why they needed to invest in
the Grimsby factory with Richard estimating that the company's market
share in the frozen ready meal market is just over 20%. That
is a purist ready meal' because it all depends on what you include
in your figures some people are including pasta sauces, cottage
pies, or even meat pies. CAREER
IN FOOD INDUSTRY: He
started in telesales at Buxted Poultry, at that time it was part
of Imperial Tobacco, and ended up being Southern Divisional Sales
Manager I
started at the bottom and rose up through the ranks,he says proudly. The
next move was to Sara Lee as General Sales Manager, followed by
a switch to Gerber Foods in the frozen division which primarily
involved the importing of vegetables &
the manufacturing of frozen ready meals & fruit juices. From
there I was poached to work for Headlands, which was called Bluecrest
Convenience Foods at the time. Shortly after I joined there was
a management buy-in with 3i to form the Prize Food Group, and Headland
was a division of Prize Foods Group. CAREER
IN HEADLAND FOODS I
joined in March 1994, and we've seen tremendous growth over that
period of time, increasing the turnover four fold. When
Richard first started in the company they had a lot of smaller customers,
but over the years have focused on five or six major customers,
reduced from the 20 customers they used to serve. This was a deliberate
change in strategy to focus on the major retailers and service their
needs. Interestingly,
the number of products still remains at around the 250 mark. The
market is approximately £580 million by the company's definition. HOW
HAVE YOU GOT WHERE YOU ARE?: Hard
work and dedication,he says succinctly. It's
about being passionate about the business you are in, almost to
the exclusion of everything else. You work extremely hard, and sometimes
it is only when your wife gives you a call asking what time you
are going to be home that you remember you have another life. THE
INDUSTRY
THE STATE OF THE FROZEN READY MEALS SECTOR: If
you look at the latest TNS figures, it is the brands that are faltering
at the moment. Brands are being
withdrawn, while own label is growing. While
the rest of the frozen sector has sat in the doldrums with negative
growth, and despite a massive advertising campaign by Birds Eye
& other branded manufacturers last
year, it is the traditional poor country cousins of own label that
is forecast to grow. Having
said that, Richard sees some confusion in a black and white delineation
between Brands and Own label, as the major retailers Own label offerings
are becoming Brands in themselves especially the top end like Sainsbury's
Taste The Difference' and Tesco's Finest'. Another
factor in the growth is the growth of the multi-buy' offers, selling
five for the price of four, which has produced a bit of deflation
for the manufacturers, as it means they have to produce more meals
to earn the same return. This in turn means that companies in the
frozen ready meals sector has to be leaner and more efficient
to be able grow. WHAT
ARE THE CHALLENGES AHEAD FOR THE SECTOR?: Richard
sees the biggest challenge as being changing the conception of the
consumer to recognise that just because it is frozen doesn't necessarily
mean that it is inferior quality to chilled products. The
way ahead he sees is a combination of innovative packaging to catch
the eye of the consumer and positive advertising. He particularly
applauds Birds Eye's latest TV campaign focusing on the quality
of their branded frozen meals. There
is a lot of competition from chilled, and increasingly competition
from ambient products like sauces in a jar,he says. WHAT
ARE THE PLUSES' AND MINUSES' OF OWN LABEL?: Own
label is a big plus as you are dedicated to your customer's business
& needs. You understand how the customer is focused and it means
you are able to work together to take out avoidable costs. To
a certain degree I sometimes see myself as the Brand manger for
the retailer's brands. However
the minuses are that you are tied to the retails you serve, and
with the recent increase in raw materials beginning to bite, the
price difference is going to be felt by the manufacturer rather
than the supermarket shopper. MANAGEMENT
STYLE
It is very much a team culture, as we are all here together and we have got to all work together to get the business singing. You
have got to be happy with the people you are working with, as you
live most of your life with them. IN
10 YEARS FROM NOW I WILL BE…
Haven't
got a clue probably more of the same, only closer to retirement.
Interviewed
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