CONTRACT caterer BaxterSmith has joined forces with a second independently owned foodservice company to form a new company which will begin trading as BaxterStorey in January 2005.
The merger of BaxterSmith Ltd with Wilson Storey Halliday Ltd was announced on Monday and brings together a national workforce of more than 2,400 people.
BaxterStorey will continue to be owned and managed by its founders and there will be no job losses from BaxterSmith's workforce of 720. It will continue to keep its office in Market Square, Amersham, for the foreseeable future, although some of the accounts staff will relocate to Wilson Storey Halliday's base in Wokingham.
At the time of the merger Wilson Storey Halliday had an annual turnover of £75 million and BaxterSmith an annual turnover of £30 million, giving the new company a joint turnover of £105 million.
William Baxter, deputy chief executive at BaxterSmith, said he had originally talked to Alastair Storey about going into business together five years ago.
He said: "Wilson Storey Halliday offered a great fit with our business. Our operation, people and culture strongly complement each other and as a single entity, the strength of our combined management team allow us to grow significantly and still provide a service for our clients that is led personally by the company's owners."
The merger was for an undisclosed sum.
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