Hot on the heels of its acquisition of Freedom Refreshments, (LTT vending), Montagu Group, owners of the Tayto snacks brand, has closed a ‘multi-million pound’ deal to add West Country Vending to its burgeoning empire.
Bath-based West Country Vending, which has a strong presence across the South West of England and South Wales, adds a further 5,300 operational machines to Montagu Group’s UK vending park – and it seems that there may be more acquisitions on the pipeline…
“Although we are still in the very early days of our expansion into the GB vending sector, we are making large strides, building our profile and presence rapidly”, Paul Allen, Chief Executive of the Montagu Group said. “West Country is a long-established, route-based business with robust strongholds in the areas in which it operates. It is both disciplined and highly customer-focused with a family-oriented ethos similar to the Tayto Group. Through our acquisitions of Freedom Refreshments and West Country Vending Service, we have acquired more than 12,500 vending machines in the space of a year which, in turn, has increased the Group’s turnover substantially.”
He’s not kidding: Tayto Group’s diversification into the vending-solutions sector has increased the company’s turnover, which in the last twelve years, has risen from £19 million and is now in excess of £215m.
Dylan Jones, will continue in his role as MD of West Country. “West Country Vending is delighted to be joining the Montagu family today”, he said. “We’ve been proudly serving our region now for 50 years, and all of us welcome the opportunity to take the next step in our development and to be part of a dynamic, fast-growing and customer-driven group.”
Mark Stone from Montagu Group added: “Our vending arm is performing on target and got off to an excellent start and we are aiming for further growth within this sector as we continue to roll out our development plan, which opens up new distribution channels for Tayto Group products, alongside the extensive range of hot and cold drinks and confectionery that our machines carry.”
So: who’s next?