Who WE Are
Established in 1986, Caterbar is a national consortium of independent catering equipment distributors.
With a combined purchasing power and an established trading network, the group is able to obtain the best possible prices from manufacturers and importers. Through strategic locations in the UK, Caterbar members are then positioned to provide an excellent service for their customers.
Established Organisation
Founded in 1986 and incorporated in 1995, Caterbar today is a group of 15 collaborative businesses. The consortium works collectively to help all its members realise their full potential.
Access to Exclusive Discounts
Through well-established relationships, Caterbar members benefit from advantageous pricing structures and bulk discounts that help to maximise profits and increase trading efficiency.
Buying Power
The group utilises a collective buying network to ensure that all members can benefit. From heavy equipment to disposables, all sectors of the hospitality industry are within our remit.
Networking Events
Caterbar members have access to a number of events, group meetings and networking opportunities — including the annual Supplier Excellence Awards.
2022 caterbar excellence awards
Caterbar Group Reunites for Awards Evening
After a three-year hiatus, on Thursday 23rd June 2022, the Caterbar group finally reconvened for its member-supplier conference.
Held at the Cottons Hotel & Spa in Knutsford, the all-day event started with morning and afternoon information exchange sessions. Made up of 30 suppliers and 14 Caterbar Group members from across the UK and Ireland, these sessions were an opportunity to focus on new launches, strategic direction and of course, some good old face-to-face catching up.
Following the sessions were the Supplier Excellence Awards. Caterbar Executive Officer, Richard Agnew acknowledged that, after a bizarre three years, effectively judging the awards in the usual manner was going to be a difficult task.
Instead of typical category criteria such as field sales figures, this year’s accolades were given in recognition of performance and growth.
Congratulations to all of the winners on the evening, which were as follows:
10 Year Stellar Growth & Loyalty
- Dispo International
- NCCO International
- Neville UK
3 Year Exceptional Growth
- Eco Tech
- Go-Pak UK
- Zodiac SPCO
Member's Recognition Award
- Beaumont
Distributor Partner of the Year
- Drinkstuff
The Churchill China custom-made awards were presented by group Chairman and MD of Stephensons, Henry Stephenson. Henry also gave an opening speech that remarked on the challenges of the pandemic, stressing that Caterbar’s pooled turnover and knowledge helped the group remain resolute. Most importantly though, Henry said, was the unwavering support shown between the group and suppliers — demonstrating how a working relationship has become a genuine, supportive group of friends.
Reflecting on the evening, Henry Stephenson said “the event was emblematic of a return to normality and I’m so proud to say that this recovery has been achieved through Caterbar’s fabulous network of support between suppliers and distributors. Thank you to everyone for such a wonderful evening and here’s to some bright years ahead.”
The positive sentiments were echoed by attendees, such as Sally Gabbitas from Seal Packaging, who added “Over the years, I have done a few similar events, but I would like to say that this was by far the best — the organisation, the venue and most importantly, the members. What a great bunch of friendly, interesting and engaging people. It was such a pleasure to be part of it.”
In closing, Richard Agnew thanked all for their attendance and remarked that Caterbar were “delighted with our biggest ever attendee for suppliers and members alike”.
2019 CATERBAR AWARDS
On July 4th 2019, Caterbar held its annual Supplier Excellence Awards function at the Cottons Hotel & Spa, Knutsford. As always, the event proved to be a great opportunity for suppliers and distributors to touch base and to celebrate successes from the past year.
Group chairman Henry Stephenson, who is also the managing director of Stockport based distributor Stephensons, said: “It was a terrific evening that facilitated positive discussions with suppliers and members, while also celebrating the innovative products and great service that have helped make these relationships so effective and fruitful.”
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The fifteen-member Caterbar group collectively voted on all of the categories, with judging based on the effectiveness of suppliers based on the following criteria: product range, innovation, product quality, website accessibility, market pricing, delivery, order & fill lead time, customer service, sales representation and marketing/promotion schemes.
Henry Stephenson presented the trophies, which quite appropriately were decorated premium plates. On the evening, Henry also delivered a speech that reflected on the state of the industry and future plans for the consortium.
Big winners on the night were Neville’s, who managed to scoop up the coveted ‘Overall Winner’ award. The South East London group was selected for its overall commitment to innovation, as well as the continued success and customer orientated product development ethos of the Genware brand.
Also celebrating were Churchill China, who were given the nod in the Tabletop category and Northwood Hygiene Products, who were selected as the overall winners for Hygiene & Consumables. Sales Team of the Year went to Holchem Laboratories Ltd and Galgorm were named as the Suppliers Partner (Distributor) of the Year. Highly commended on the evening were DPS, Essity, Waypoint and Cofresco Foodservice.
Caterbar Executive Officer Richard Agnew commented: “the suppliers and members feel the event is an invaluable tool in fostering and cementing business relationships and strategies. Caterbar facilitates the independent distributors constant search for the best products and services, allowing them to deliver for their customers, even during these challenging times.”
Reflecting on another successful year for Caterbar, Henry Stephenson added – “Commenting from both a Stephenson’s perspective, and as the chairman for Caterbar, I can honestly say that despite some uncertainties within the industry and indeed the economic climate as whole, the positivity and progress made over these past 12 months has been heartening.
The consortium expanded in 2019 to cover an even wider distribution network, and through strategic purchasing and a trend-focused information exchange, we’re now perfectly placed to keep up our consistently high levels of customer service ahead of our upcoming 25th anniversary in 2020.”
Caterbar Members
National Coverage – Local Service
Stephensons
stephensons.com
North West
Drinkstuff
drinkstuff.com
Online
Wilkes Group
wilkesgroup.co.uk
Yorkshire
All Purpose
allpurposeltd.co.uk
East Midlands
MBS Wholesale
mbswholesale.co.uk
London
Clean Wipes
cleanwipes.co.uk
South East
Bateman Bros (1953)
batemanbrothers.co.uk
South Wales
Highland Industrial Supplies
hisltd.co.uk
Scotland
Marshall Wilson
marshallwilson.co.uk
Scotland – Glasgow
Galgorm Group
galgormgroup.com
Ireland
J.L.Gelling
gellings.im
Isle of Man
BRANDS WE WORK WITH
Whether it’s disposables, tableware, cleaning products or heavy equipment, Caterbar’s supplier network covers all aspects of the hospitality industry.
We’re extremely proud that this network is comprised of leading brands from the UK and beyond. This allows us to offer our customers a comprehensive selection of high quality products.
A WORD FROM Our
MEMBERS & SUPPLIERS
Caterbar succeeds because of the connection between the members and the suppliers. Here’s a snippet of why it works…
Richard Dyson
Supplier: Greyland
“Since 2008, Greyland have been honoured to supply The Caterbar Group.
Today the current Caterbar membership contains many leading distributors, who have paralleled their own individual businesses’ alongside Greyland, to provide a first class package for all their end users across UK and Ireland.”
Brian Mayling
Member: CSL Caterers Supplies
“Caterbar has given us excellent knowledge of the marketplace and being a member has enabled us access to the leading manufactures providing us with current trends, innovation, government legislation and quality.
The groups combined buying power allows us to be extremely competetive and we’re very proud to be a member of the professional Caterbar family.”
Tom Ewer
Supplier: Nevilles UK
“Success in business is never guaranteed, however the relationships that we have through Caterbar make it far more likely that it can be achieved. For each of the 15 years we have been supplying Caterbar, we have seen greater growth from Caterbar members than our overall Company growth.
We look forward to our continued association with Caterbar, and am sure it will go from strength to strength.”
GET IN TOUCH
Caterbar are open to hearing from prospective members and suppliers who want to expand and thrive as part of our consortium. If you’d like to contact us for membership, or any other matters, please use the details below.
Address
Caterbar Ltd
Richard Agnew
Executive Officer
t: 07525 860 393
e: ragnew@caterbar.co.uk
Registered Office:
161 Buxton Road
Stockport
Cheshire
SK2 6EQ
If you’d like to get in touch with us, do please fill out the form below.