Last year I began my statement by recounting a story that epitomised the service ethic of Smiths News: with only 72 hours notice we were called upon and succeeded in taking over the distribution of 55,000 daily newspapers of a regional wholesaler that had gone into receivership.
We start the current year with projected revenues of £1.7bn
We have increased market share from 39% to 55%
This year, we were faced with a strikingly similar situation but on a truly unprecedented scale: the country’s third largest national wholesaler, Dawson News, was about to go into administration and unless we took decisive action the industry supply chain could collapse. Working literally around the clock and on short notice, the Smiths News team absorbed 20 depots and 1,800 staff from Dawson News into our network. On 2 August 2009, we commenced the distribution of an additional 3.5 million daily newspapers and 9 million magazines a week to 5,000 retailers, on time and without any disruption to the industry.
To read the Chairman’s Statement in full click here.
Share Price
96.50p [+1.25p] at 01:37am on 08 Feb 2012