Heron Foods

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Heron Foods
Company type Subsidiary
IndustryFood retail
Founded1979;46 years ago (1979)
Kingston upon Hull, England [1]
FounderMalcolm Heuck
Headquarters
Melton
,
England
Number of locations
343 (2024)
Area served
England
Wales
RevenueIncrease2.svg £194.7 million (2012) [2] [ needs update ]
Decrease2.svg £6.7 million (2012) [2] [ needs update ]
Decrease2.svg £3.2 million (2012) [2] [ needs update ]
Number of employees
4,915 (2020) [2]
Parent B&M
Website www.heronfoods.com

Heron Foods Ltd. (formerly Heron Frozen Foods Ltd and Grindells Butchers Ltd) is an English supermarket chain founded in 1979 and based in Melton, England. As of October 2025, the company has 338 stores in Britain and primarily sells frozen food, but has a wide range of ambient and chilled stock with brands including Müller, Birds Eye and McCain Foods, as well as several lines using the Heron Foods brand. The company has been owned by B&M since August 2017. [3]

Contents

History

Heron Foods in Lincoln Green, Leeds. Branches are often situated in residential areas such as this. Heron Foods, Lincoln Green Road, Leeds (geograph 5962052).jpg
Heron Foods in Lincoln Green, Leeds. Branches are often situated in residential areas such as this.
A branch showing the old logo. Heron Foods - South Street - geograph.org.uk - 1853339.jpg
A branch showing the old logo.

The company was first registered in October 1978 as Grindells Butchers. [4] The first store was opened by the Grindell family on Holderness Road, Hull in 1979. [5]

In 1981 the company changed name to Heron Frozen Foods. Shortly after Anthony Grindell sold the business to his sister and her family – the Heucks. [4]

In 1999 Heron Foods bought 17 Dawn Til Dusk convenience stores after that chain went into receivership, bringing its total number of stores to over 100. [6] Malcolm and Sheila Heuck had a joint controlling interest in the company from the beginning, but in February 2003, having reached retirement age, they sold their stake to management; [5] from that point, the company was run by their sons Andrew, David and Michael. [7]

In September 2012 Heron Foods agreed to buy the Cooltrader frozen foods business from Iceland. The deal included 54 of the 58 shops and the depot and head office of Cooltrader. [8] The acquired Cooltrader outlets were converted to the Heron Foods brand. [9]

In August 2017, it was announced that Heron Foods had been sold to B&M for £152 million. [3] A number of new branches have been opened under the new B&M Express facia. [10] [11]

Operations

The company's head office is at Melton in the East Riding of Yorkshire and it has around 250 outlets which are mostly located throughout the North of England and the Midlands. Heron Foods has developed its business in selling frozen and convenience store goods at a discount, the majority of which are household brands. [12] Heron occupies nine former Woolworth's locations. [13]

References

  1. ↑ "Heron Foods - Top Quality, Lowest Prices. Right up your street!". www.heronfoods.com. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Financial statement of Heron Foods Limited in East Yorkshire". Duedil.com. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Family-run Heron Foods taken over by B&M in £152m deal". BBC News. BBC. 2 August 2017. Archived from the original on 14 July 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  4. 1 2 Companies House Information on Company 01392197
  5. 1 2 "About Heron Foods". Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  6. ↑ Independent Retail News 2 July 1999 COSTCUTTER LINKED WITH DAWN TIL DUSK STORES BYLINE: Daniel Pearce SECTION: NEWS; p. 10
  7. ↑ "News & Star - New frozen food shop to open". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  8. ↑ "UK: Iceland agrees Cooltrader sale to Heron Foods". 4 September 2012. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  9. ↑ Retail Week 3 September 2012 Monday Iceland appoints Paul Foley as international business director
  10. ↑ "Heron Flies South to Open First Store in Luton". 19 February 2020. Archived from the original on 21 July 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  11. ↑ "B&M Express - Marsh Farm (Heron Foods)". 19 February 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  12. ↑ Nottingham Evening Post 21 August 2012 Tuesday Edition 1; National Edition Innes England in hunt for stores for growing chain of supermarkets SECTION: BUSINESS POST;BUSINESS; p. 15
  13. ↑ The Daily Telegraph (London) 19 January 2012 Thursday Edition 2; National Edition Pound legacy of Woolworths sites BYLINE: Harry Wallop SECTION: BUSINESS; p. 3
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