GW Price Ltd has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 1901, when the business was founded by the current owners grandfather, George William Price.
The company today remains family owned, with quality and customer service still at the heart of the business values.
George William Price was born in Dudley, in the West Midlands in 1862. At nine years of age he moved to Eckington in Derbyshire to take up employment in the mines. This budding entrepreneur was not satisfied with colliery life however, and each Thursday he would take a train from Eckington to the Lincolnshire countryside. There, he would cycle around the farming community, purchasing fresh produce.
John Plant MBE, Chairman and owner of G.W.Price Ltd and has been here since he was 14 years old and now is 74 years old, and still very much involved with the company. John has taken the company from 5 vehicles to 50 vehicles and has grown the company to be one of the leading fresh fruit and vegetable firms in the Country. John is the fourth generation owner, and the business still holds the same family values. John’s son Richard is the managing director, and Johns daughter Stella works with the sales team. Johns wife is still also involved managing the accounts. John’s third child Amy, also has links to food with initially being a registered dietitian in the NHS, Amy now works for Sheffield council in the Childrens services team.
Chatting with John he has some fascinating stories to tell, having been going to the warehouse since he was 10 until he started there officially at the age of 14. John talks about how he has supplied Nottingham City Hospital for many decades now and remembers the hospital when it was a lot smaller and you could see berry bushes growing on the sight and all being used. At the age of 74 John still goes to work every day but for much less hours now, and his love for the industry is still as strong.
The business supplies to 80 hospitals, care homes, schools, universities, supermarkets, and to the hotel and restaurant industry, and is the third biggest supplier to the NHS in England.
Talking to John, he has a very strong positive ethos and outlook with the business and life; surviving many challenges over the years, but also quick to learn and adapt to change and overcome whatever hurdles are faced. With a particular passion and pride for serving the NHS and care home industry acknowledging and understanding how important these areas are and how his produce directly affects patient’s recovery. His service to school is also something he talks about with pride helping children to grow by providing fresh produce to the schools with over 10,730 deliveries just last week.
The pandemic brought the most recent challenge for the business, supplying to the food industry meant that business shut immediately and not requiring any produce from G.W Price. The business was quick to adapt and started doing home deliveries to the public, starting with just five customers in the first week but very quickly then growing to 800 deliveries a week, this has since reduced in time with changes to life and the pandemic but the service is still delivering to those who wish to use it. The business has always operated from the same premises for over 100 years, with a new site opening in 2020 mid pandemic, again a brave move in difficult times. Staffing continues to be a challenge but incentives have been added such as bonuses and wage increases. Brexit also brought its own challenges but the business has now adapted to these new changes and again quick thinking of the family ensured deliveries from abroad where flown in when ferry crossings where a challenge. John does not get disheartened by the challenges and is admirable in his approach to work, his love for the job is evident. With staff furloughed at the height of the pandemic, but John has recently been able to voluntarily pay back a quarter of a million to the government.
The biggest thing John is proud to talk about is local produce; he is passionate about supporting local communities and works closely with all the farmers he buys from with the majority of his stock being from local farms. The local produce comes mainly from Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire depending on the seasons. The team also ensure they match up the closest location of produce to their customers, for example, the carrots used at Nottingham University Hospitals are grown just three miles away from the City campus hospital site.
John knows exactly where his produce comes from like the back of his hand, potatoes from Worksop. Broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower from just outside Mansfield, and sometimes strawberries and apples from just outside Nottingham!
John has close working relationships with all his farms and often takes his clients out to meet the farmers and see exactly where the ingredients are being grown, show-casing farm to fork. John explains how the tender process is extremely detailed and this can often be difficult for some farmers to do, often investment is needed to have the correct facilities on the farms, such as chilled distribution units and vehicles. But John strongly believes that local produce is the best way forward and should be celebrated. Handling 5 million pieces of fruit a week is a phenomenal amount of stock and with the majority of it being local produce is even more impressive.
Below is a copy of the newsletter that is sent out to customers each month, valuable information on where the produce is coming from along with opening words from John.
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