Fowler Welch

A temperature-controlled logistics business based in Spalding, Lincolnshire, moving fresh produce and chilled food between growers, manufacturers and UK supermarkets.

About Fowler Welch

Fowler Welch runs the cold chain for food in the UK. The cold chain is the unbroken line of fridges, chilled warehouses and refrigerated lorries that keeps fresh food at the right temperature from farm or factory to supermarket. The company says its core business is consolidating chilled goods for the big supermarket groups. Fresh produce makes up a large share of its work, along with other chilled and ambient foods. A fruit trade article described a fleet of about 350 twin-temperature vehicles at Spalding, and a 2018 Motor Transport article gave a total fleet of about 500 vehicles.

The pages we found give no formal mission statement, so we have not invented one. They do describe an approach: chief executive Nick Hay said in 2018 that the company chooses which opportunities it backs at any moment and grows steadily rather than overstretching. Efficiency and driver training are recurring themes, with average fuel economy rising from just over 8 miles per gallon to almost 10.5 over eight years, thanks mainly to tracking technology and training for drivers.

Its biggest base is at Spalding in Lincolnshire, in the heart of a UK fresh-produce region. Motor Transport reported in 2018 that the company had spent £2 million on the site, which has 8,000 pallet spaces and handles about 55,000 pallets a week, with further land next door. The same article mentions a large ambient national distribution centre near Heywood, Greater Manchester, a transport contract in Nuneaton for a dairy customer, and a joint venture in Teynham, Kent that packs fruit and vegetables. An earlier fruit trade article also named depots at Paddock Wood and Teynham in Kent. The company later became part of the Culina Group in 2020 and still trades as Fowler Welch, though we did not confirm which of these sites are in use today.

On people and culture, the 2018 article said the company had 26 driver apprentices and used its apprenticeship funding specifically for drivers as a way to deal with the driver shortage. Taking on 110 staff when it won the dairy transport contract shows how contracts can quickly create jobs. The fleet article credits a former head of fleet with the efficiency gains, which shows how important vehicle and technical specialists are here. We found no staff accounts or culture statement from the company itself.

The work covers many roles: drivers, warehouse and cold-store operatives, transport planners, engineers and fleet specialists, customer account managers, finance and IT. Food logistics is a good choice if you like fast-moving, practical work with a clear purpose, because fresh food spoils quickly and everyone in the chain has to get the details right, from temperature checks to delivery slots.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Consolidated chilled and ambient food deliveries to UK supermarket distribution centres.', 'title': 'Chilled and fresh produce distribution'}
• {'desc': 'Cold stores including a large site at Spalding.', 'title': 'Temperature-controlled warehousing'}
• {'desc': 'Packing through a joint venture at Teynham, Kent (as reported in 2018).', 'title': 'Fruit and vegetable packing'}

Key facts

• Spalding site had 8,000 pallet spaces and handled about 55,000 pallets a week after a £2 million upgrade (2018)
• Fleet of about 500 vehicles, mostly multi-temperature (2018)
• 26 driver apprentices in 2018, as part of efforts to address the driver shortage
• ACQUIRED: by Culina Group (2020); still trading as Fowler Welch at the time of the 2020 report

Website: www.fowlerwelch.co.uk