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Get the Business: Oakhouse Foods
By Paul RobinsMay 21, 2010
The business:
Oakhouse Foods, Unit 1, 5 Arkwright Road, Reading, RG2 0LU; (0118) 975 6565; www.oakhousefoods.co.uk.
The boss:
Trevor Yeoman has 30 years business experience gained in the private sector managing commercial businesses. He also recently worked for a major UK charity as its senior business development manager. His role is to make sure the firm is delivering a high quality service to customers and to attract new customers.
What is your business about?
“We provide a wide range of frozen meals and desserts with free home delivery throughout Reading and the surrounding areas. Our service is a real lifeline for those who can’t get out to the shops or who find cooking a challenge.”
What products/meals do you offer?
“We offer more than 300 frozen meals and desserts – our meals are easy to cook straight from frozen in either the oven or microwave, so they are ideal if you’re pushed for time or you’re looking for help with cooking. We also offer a wide range of home delivered grocery, homeware and mobility items so our customers can have everything delivered at once. There’s no delivery charge or minimum order so it’s a very flexible service.”
How and when did you start the business?
“We’ve been delivering throughout Reading since launching in January 2003.”
How big is your fleet?
“We now operate five vans delivering to people across Oxfordshire, Berkshire, North Hampshire and West London. We deliver to more than 600 customers weekly across the region and we have a service team of 12 people based here in Reading.”
Who are your customers?
“We deliver to lots of elderly people and people with mobility issues, but there are younger people who use the service too. Anyone who likes a little help in the kitchen really.”
What sets you apart from the rest?
“The quality of our food – we believe it’s the best you’ll find in the market. Everything in our range is completely free from artificial colours and flavourings, hydrogenated fats and MSG. Our development chef Simon and his team are always working to improve our existing recipes and come up with new ones to keep our range fresh and exciting.”
Has your business been affected by the recession or the rising fuel prices?
“Sales have increased to record levels and we are very lucky to be trading so well. I believe it’s because we are fulfilling a genuine need within the community. In fact, we’re currently recruiting for another sales demonstrator to showcase our products for us so if any readers would like to join our team please get in touch.”
What’s the biggest challenge you face?
“Making people aware of our services and increasing our profile. Once people use our service they enjoy the quality of our meals, friendly service and value for money. We retain a very high percentage of new customers.”
Are you confident about the future?
“Yes, absolutely. We recently relocated to a bigger unit to accommodate our growing staff, bigger fleet and increased orders. Our grocery range in particular is doing very well – people can have everything delivered to them by the same friendly face each week and there’s no delivery charge unlike other grocery delivery services.”
