Inter Link Foods PLC - Introduction

Introduction

Sett End Rd.
Blackburn
Lancashire BB1 2PT
United Kingdom
Telephone: (+44) 1254-554-95
Fax: (+44) 1254-663-602
Web site: http://www.interlinkfoods.co.uk

Public Company
Incorporated: 1994
Employees: 729
Sales: £51.4 million ($82.24 million) (2003)
Stock Exchanges: London (AIM)
Ticker Symbol: ITF
NAIC: 311812 Commercial Bakeries; 424490 Other Grocery and Related Product Merchant Wholesalers; 551112 Offices of Other Holding Companies

Inter Link Foods PLC is the rising star of the British baking industry. Since its formation in 1994, the company has grown through acquisitions and organically to take a place in the United Kingdom's top five industrial bakers, with the objective of claiming the number two spot in the market (number one, Mr Kipling, a subsidiary of Tomkins, holds a more than 50 percent share of the market). Inter Link itself is composed of a number of smaller bakery businesses, including Crossfield, Lisa, Hepworth & Whittles (Newton House), William Lusty, Maid Marian, Nicholas & Harris, The Creative Cake Company, Cakes for the Connoisseur, and, since February 2003, Soreen. This gathering of companies has enabled Inter Link to build a strong portfolio spanning most of the major cake and pastry categories, including sponge cakes, fruit pies, celebration cakes, low-fat loaf cakes, cherry bakewell tarts, chocolate mini rolls, swiss rolls, and malt cakes. The company also has a thriving business in licensed cakes, holding the licenses to create cakes in the image of such popular characters as Bob the Builder and Harry Potter. Most of Inter Link Foods' production goes toward private label and thirdparty branded items, and Inter Link counts nearly all of the major multiple supermarket groups among its customers. With the acquisition of Soreen, however, Inter Link has gained controlled of that brand's malt cakes, U.K. leader in its category. Inter Link has traded on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) since 1998, and has seen its revenues shoot up from just £1.5 million to more than £51 million since it was founded. The company is led by founder and CEO Alwin Thompson, and Managing Director Paul Griffiths.