Company overview

1- In 1886, Whittard of Chelsea was established by Walter Whittard when he opened his first shop
in Fleet Street, London, He was only 25 years old. Walter started out importing and selling tea,
but soon added coffee and cocoa to his offering
(www.instantoffices.com/blog/first-offices-tea-companies-04221098/)
(https://www.linkedin.com/company/whittard-of-chelsea)
2- In 1935 After Whittard's death, sons Hugh and Richard take over the business and add a
mail-order business.
He also was joined by sons Richard (Dick) and Hugh Whittard, who later took over operation
of the family business after their father's death in 1935. Despite the harsh economic climate of
the time, Whittard managed to grow, notably by introducing a mail-order business. Orders
quickly came in from all over the United Kingdom, and even from abroad, as visitors to the
United Kingdom began requesting shipments of the company's teas.
(www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/whittard-of-chelsea-plc-history/)
3-

In 1996, Whittard went public, listing on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), designed
to provide liquidity to smaller companies.
(Ref. as no 2)

4-

By September 2001, Whittard was forced to pull the plug on its Internet experiment. The
company appeared uncertain as to how to proceed for the future, and announced that it had
begun entertaining takeover offers, including a management buyout offer led by Richard
Knight. Yet, unable to generate a suitable price, the company decided to remain
independent.new CEO Richard Rose refocuses the company on its core tea and coffee
retail offerings, and begins rolling out the packaged Whittard brand to U.K. supermarkets.

(Ref. as no 2)
5- Whittard now formed a partnership with Minneapolis-based department store group Marshall
Field's to introduce Whittard corner stores. The first of these opened in Minneapolis in 2003
and proved to be a strong success, encouraging the company to expand its presence in the
United States, particularly with the introduction of its own tea and coffee shops.Over 60 types
of tea, 20 types of coffee, chocolate, china, gifts etc.
(Ref. as no 2)
6- 9 franchises overseas with and launched local language website including japan, Germany,
France, Italy. (ref as No. 13)
7- In 2005,Baugur, the Icelandic investment group acquired another UK retailer whittard of
Chelsea trding in tea and coffee for about 21.5 million.
(http://www.theguardian.com/business/2005/dec/15/highstreetretailers.retail)

8-

In 2009, Baugur's UK retail empire was consigned to the history books after its parent
company collapsed today into administration in Iceland. and assets were sold out, whittard
also went into administration.
(http://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/mar/11/baugur-in-administration-iceland)

9- Private equity firm EPIC bought Whittard out of administration in 2009. According to bbc news,
company had been experiencing trading difficulties now will continue as a going concern and
administrator has sold to EPIC Private equity partner.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7796751.stm)
10Currently whittard has 74 stores in UK. Seven in central London at various locations
including oxford street, Regent Street. ( http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/people/peoplenews/whittard-appoints-retail-head-iles/229130.article)
11In 2008, Whittard had 130 stores in UK (same as No 11)
12- Brand was loss maker till 2011.whittard first time made profits since brought out of
administration by EPIC private equity partners in 2008.the company trades in 35 countries. In
2013 launched local language website including japan, Germany, France, Italy.
(www.thegrocer.co.uk/companies/whittard-profits-up-as-premium-push-pays-off/343022.article)
13- In 2013, whittard made significant profits as compare to previous years. Whittard reported
profits for 2012/13 was 1.4 million pounds.
(http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/people/mark-dunhill-follows-sara-halton-as-whittard-chiefexec/353645.article)

Vision

Mission
mission is to surprise and delight our customers with our passion for the very best tea, coffee and related
gifts. (Wittard.co.uk)(off. Face book)

Products brand portfolio :

Teapot, Mugs Tea, Coffee , Hot Chocolate, Instant Tea, Equipment, Tableware, Gifts

Brand competitors analysis

who is dominating, market share.

 Caf direct (We were the first UK coffee brand to carry the Fairtrade label and continue to push the boundaries of ethical business)
Fortnum and mason
Global Tea & Commodities (With sales in excess of US $130 million, handling over 55 million kilos of tea annually, Global
Tea currently employs over 10,400 people worldwide and is the United Kingdom's largest independent tea company)
Yorkshires tea
Caf Nero
Bettys and taylors

Situation analysis:

Business strategy
Market size/ share
Macro environment

Political factors
Economical factors
Social factors
Technological factors

Strength, Branding, historic, innovation, quality, retail, internet order

Weakness
Opportunities: Taste, technology, loyalty,
Threats

competitive analysis:

Fortnum and
mason

Caf direct
Global Tea &
Commodities

Caf Nero
FINANCIAL HIGH LIGHTES
profits
sales volume
market share

Brand Audit
logos, symbols, trademarks, packaging, slogans (buy the best)

, and design elements like colors and schemes.

Brand positioning

Brand core competencies

differentiation strategy
value creation/add value
Recommendations:

Bettys and taylors

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baugur_Group

(Walter Whittard established Whittard as a tea company on Fleet Street in 1886,

and within a few years branched into coffee. It moved to Chelsea after its Aldgate
premises were destroyed in an air raid in 1940. It expanded rapidly in the 1980s
and by 1998, had 120 outlets in the UK and was pushing into international
markets, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Singapore, South Africa, Chile and
the US.

But Whittard's most recent published accounts show the company was already
suffering before this year's retail pain. The company reported a 3.2 million loss
for the year to March 31 2007, a like-for-like sales decline of 0.6% and declining
margins due to heavy competition

profits

year

9000 to 514,000
1.2 m
1.4 m

2004
2011
2012

Ref
London evening standard
1 May, 2013 | By Alex Lawson
1 May, 2013 | By Alex Lawson

Sales
Year
Ref
5.8% inc
2004
London evening standard
31.5M
2011
1 May, 2013 | By Alex Lawson
31.8M
2012
1 May, 2013 | By Alex Lawson
80% retail indutory (http://www.retail-week.com/sectors/food/whittard-reports-profits-increase-after-margins-improve/5048737.article)
30.7m
2009
March 9 2012 | By Alex Lawson reporter retail.week
29.8m
2010
March 9 2012 | By Alex Lawson reporter retail.week
online sales up by 37%

Growth
9.7%. inc

Year
2004

United Kingdom[edit]

ref.
London evening standard

The UK market is dominated by five brands - PG Tips and Tetley, Premier Foods (was
bought by an Indian firm: India's Apeejay Surrendra Group), Associated British food and
Bettys & Taylors. Tetley leads the market with 27% share, followed by PG Tips with
about 24% share. Premier food is in third place, with about 13% share, Associated
British food is 4th with about 11% share and Bettys & Taylors 5th with about 6% share.
Though Betty's and Taylor's has risen dramatically with the Taylor's Tea & Coffee and
Betty's brandsproving more popular, also the famous Yorkshire Tea is part of Betty's
and Taylor's Group (Source: ACNielsen Total Cov GB 52 we 25.02.08) en.wikiPEDIA

Demographical factors
COFFIEE
USA
INDIA
CHINA
BRITAIN
USA
RUSSIA
PAKISTAN
Daily chart --The coffee insurgency
Dec 16th 2013, 16:20 by P.J.W. and D.H.

75.4
11
1.1
21.6
75.4
22.5
1

The economist.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2013/12/daily-chart-17

TEA
24.6
89
98.9
78.4
24.6
77.5
99