Cotswold Fayre
The business was launched in the late nineties when our founder, Paul Hargreaves, was made aware of the challenges of independent retailers sourcing the growing variety of British speciality food for their stores. There was a need for a ‘one order, one delivery, one invoice’ solution which would significantly reduce the administrative burden of these new growing stores and enable them to stock a much wider range of interesting artisanal food products. As it happens the business model is massively carbon reducing, which is much more important now than in 1999. Reducing carbon is now a large part of our business plan and until we reach net zero in 2030, we will reduce and offset all our carbon, as well as encouraging our 400 suppliers to follow suit.
We are the leading wholesaler of speciality foods to independent food retailers in the UK – we supply most of the best food stores in the UK and attract most of the best brands to work with us. Partly due to Cotswold Fayre consumers all over the UK are buying and eating better quality food now than when we founded in 1999.
Our impact and influence on our suppliers have started to change the face of the wider food and drink sector. Cotswold Fayre was one of the first B Corps to be certified in the UK in 2015, by size we are in the top 2% of UK B Corps, and since certifying, have actively encouraged suppliers to become more environmentally and socially responsible. As of Dec 2023, we are proud to have 63 suppliers now also certified as B Corps – more than the total UK B Corp community in 2015.
Having supplied the best food retailers in the UK for over 20 years, in 2021 we opened our own retail and hospitality site, Flourish, situated between Bristol and Bath. This has been a huge asset for the company, both in terms of gravitas with customers and having a consumer-facing business has helped us develop our culture in a more tangible way. We plan both to grow the wholesale business to further grow our influence and increase the number of retail sites to 5 by 2030, by which time we expect to reach £100M revenue.
Purpose and being a ‘force for good’ is at the heart of everything we do at Cotswold Fayre. This has been recognised at various awards over the past few years: The Lloyds Bank Business Awards, The Elite Business SME of the Year and most recently winning a coveted Grocer Gold Award.
As a B Corp we put people and planet before profit, and we believe increasingly that businesses that do this will be those who prosper financially too. Increasingly consumers want to buy from companies that are making a positive impact on the world and good people want to work for businesses that are making a difference, giving us a huge advantage in recent years as we have recruited some excellent new people as we prepare for our next growth phase.
We are the leading wholesaler of speciality foods to independent food retailers in the UK – we supply most of the best food stores in the UK and attract most of the best brands to work with us. Partly due to Cotswold Fayre consumers all over the UK are buying and eating better quality food now than when we founded in 1999.
Our impact and influence on our suppliers have started to change the face of the wider food and drink sector. Cotswold Fayre was one of the first B Corps to be certified in the UK in 2015, by size we are in the top 2% of UK B Corps, and since certifying, have actively encouraged suppliers to become more environmentally and socially responsible. As of Dec 2023, we are proud to have 63 suppliers now also certified as B Corps – more than the total UK B Corp community in 2015.
Having supplied the best food retailers in the UK for over 20 years, in 2021 we opened our own retail and hospitality site, Flourish, situated between Bristol and Bath. This has been a huge asset for the company, both in terms of gravitas with customers and having a consumer-facing business has helped us develop our culture in a more tangible way. We plan both to grow the wholesale business to further grow our influence and increase the number of retail sites to 5 by 2030, by which time we expect to reach £100M revenue.
Purpose and being a ‘force for good’ is at the heart of everything we do at Cotswold Fayre. This has been recognised at various awards over the past few years: The Lloyds Bank Business Awards, The Elite Business SME of the Year and most recently winning a coveted Grocer Gold Award.
As a B Corp we put people and planet before profit, and we believe increasingly that businesses that do this will be those who prosper financially too. Increasingly consumers want to buy from companies that are making a positive impact on the world and good people want to work for businesses that are making a difference, giving us a huge advantage in recent years as we have recruited some excellent new people as we prepare for our next growth phase.