Heron Foods Ltd. (formerly Heron Frozen Foods Ltd and Grindells Butchers Ltd) is an English supermarket chain founded in 1979 and based in
Melton with 343 stores .
It primarily sells frozen food, but has a wide range of ambient and chilled stock with brands including Muller,
Birds Eye and
McCain Foods
McCain Foods Limited is a Canadian multinational frozen food company established in 1957 in Florenceville, New Brunswick, Canada.
It is the world's largest manufacturer of frozen potato products, with 1 in 4 french fries in the world being a ...
, as well as several lines using the Heron Foods brand.
B&M announced in August 2017 that it had purchased Heron Foods for £152 million, a deal that was described as a "no brainer" by B&M's CEO
Simon Arora.
History
The company was first registered in October 1978 as Grindells Butchers.
[Companies House Information on Company 01392197] The first store was opened by the Grindell family on Holderness Road,
Hull in 1979.
In 1981 the company changed name to Heron Frozen Foods. Shortly after Anthony Grindell sold the business to his sister and her family – the Heucks.
In 1999 Heron Foods bought 17
Dawn Til Dusk convenience stores after that chain went into
receivership
In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver – a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights" – especia ...
, bringing its total number of stores to over 100. Malcolm and Sheila Heuck had a joint controlling interest in the company from the beginning, but in February 2003, having reached retirement age, they sold their stake to management;
from that point, the company was run by their sons Andrew, David and Michael.
In September 2012 Heron Foods agreed to buy the Cooltrader frozen foods business from
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
. The deal included 54 of the 58 shops and the depot and head office of Cooltrader. The acquired Cooltrader outlets were converted to the Heron Foods brand.
[Retail Week 3 September 2012 Monday Iceland appoints Paul Foley as international business director]
In August 2017, it was announced that Heron Foods had been sold to
B&M for £152 million. A number of new branches have been opened under the new B&M Express facia.
Operations
The company's head office is at
Melton in the
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...
and it has around 250 outlets which are mostly located throughout the
North of England
Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire. Officially, it is a gr ...
and
the Midlands
The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefords ...
. Heron Foods has developed its business in selling frozen and convenience store goods at a discount, the majority of which are household brands. Heron occupies nine former
Woolworth's locations.
[The Daily Telegraph (London) 19 January 2012 Thursday Edition 2; National Edition Pound legacy of Woolworths sites BYLINE: Harry Wallop SECTION: BUSINESS; p. 3]
References
External links
Official website
{{UK supermarkets
Retail companies of the United Kingdom
Companies based in the East Riding of Yorkshire
Retail companies established in 1979
Supermarkets of the United Kingdom
1979 establishments in England
Companies established in 1979