Published by Farmers Guide, January 2007.

Gladwells opens flagship Country Store

Diversification has undoubtedly helped secure the future of many farm businesses, but it has also proved vital for the long-term survival of many of the industries that have traditionally relied on farming for their livelihood.

One excellent example of this is Suffolk-based HG Gladwell & Sons Ltd, of Copdock Mill, near Ipswich, which has seen its business shift from being totally reliant on agriculture for its income, to its position today where wholesale and retail sales of Pet Supplies make up the majority of its revenue.

The business, which recorded a turnover of £12 million in 2005/06, has grown into a major supplier of pet related products to pet shops throughout South-East England and the East Midlands, but it has also developed a thriving retail trade through six retail outlets of its own at Stowmarket, Bury St Edmunds, Peterborough, Ongar, Rayleigh and at the company's Copdock base.

By virtue of the fact that the original Copdock shop was shoe-horned into a working mill and feed production operation, it has never been ideal. In fact, according to Gladwell's Director Simon Gladwell, it is the smallest of the Company's retail stores.

"It may be the busiest in terms of turnover, but it has the smallest floor area," he said. "It doesn't give us the scope to display the wide range of products we have available, and situated in the centre of our site, it is no longer in most suitable position ."

Now, following three years of planning and development, Gladwells is opening a purpose-built Country Store on its Copdock Mill site.

"We had the chance to buy some land from Suffolk County Council and it was too good an opportunity to miss," Mr Gladwell told Farmers Guide. "It was an administrative nightmare to begin with, in that the County Council wouldn't sell the land until we had planning permission and our District Council wouldn't grant planning permission until we owned the land, but once that was resolved, everything progressed smoothly."

The result is a brand new retail shop and warehouse that sits on the edge of the company's site, just off Old London Road, and has ample parking facilities for everything from cars to horseboxes!

"The new building has 3,500 square feet of shop display area and a further warehouse area of 5,500 square feet where customers will be able to browse and pick goods from the pallet racking," Mr Gladwell said. "It was also a problem in our old Copdock shop that customers couldn't see everything we had on offer. Only a very small part of the 6,000 lines we had in our main warehouse could actually be seen.

"If a customer actually asked for a product, we could go and get if for them, but there's little doubt that we lost out on business by only being able to display a small part of our stock at any one time."

The new store will change all that, and has also provided space for the company to expand into country clothing, fishing tackle, and non-prescription veterinary products - three areas that have performed well in the company's other outlets, but have never been accommodated at Copdock because of lack of space.

"We'll be offering a range of high quality clothing aimed at the equestrian market, but we'll also have a comprehensive selection of Dickies workwear," Mr Gladwell said. Gladwell's new Copdock Country Store opened for business on January 2, 2007, and operates from 8.00am to 5.00pm from Monday to Saturday, with late-night opening until 8pm on Thursdays.

Simon Gladwell said that the Copdock Mill store had traditionally had a very loyal following and that many of the customers, who had watched the new building going up, were looking forward to its opening. But he is also keen to make many of the stores occasional customers more regular visitors.

"In many cases, we get customers who will come here only after they have not been able to find a product closer to home," he said. "They now know that with close to 60,000 square feet of warehousing, we will have most things in stock and so will drive quite a distance to collect it."

Pet Supplies take over

There's little doubt that when Herbert George Gladwell started the family business in 1912, the manufacture and supply of Pet Food would have been the last thing on his mind. The Company's Copdock site is mentioned as a working mill in the Domesday Book and right through until the 1970s, the primary role of the site was to service the agricultural community.

However, when Simon Gladwell's father Mark joined the business in 1977, he recognised the way that farming was changing and saw an alternative future serving the new, but fast growing pet market.

"My father started with a Coarse Rabbit Mix that immediately took off," Simon Gladwell told Farmers Guide. "He added to the product range and every month we sold more pet food and less to farmers."

The company's turnover is made up of 85% trade sales and 15% retail sales. Of the total sales, 25% of the revenue is for products manufactured at Copdock, while the remaining 75% represents products bought in for distribution.

Whilst feeds for animals from horses to cage birds, may make up the vast majority of sales, H.G .Gladwell & Son does still supply to agriculture, although mostly to smallholders and hobby farmers.

"We stock Duffields' Farm cattle, sheep and pig feeds, as well as the Allen & Paige Smallholder range," Mr Gladwell said. "Milk Replacement Powder is another regular seller, and we also do a good trade with BOCM's Game Feeds in the Summer.

"Everything is stocked in bags, rather than bulk, so it doesn't appeal to everyone, but we're always here for the bigger farmers to pick up the odd bag or two if they run out or if they only need a small quantity of a product."