Company Shop Group achieves
second Queen’s
Awards For Enterprise.

Company Shop Group, the UK’s largest redistributor of surplus food and household products, was today announced as a winner of the prestigious Queen’s Awards for Enterprise – the UK’s top business accolade.  

Company Shop Group is now a two-time Queen’s Award winner, having achieved this award in the Sustainable Development category before in the same category in 2015. Judges praised Company Shop Group’s significant commercial success and positive benefits for society, the economy and the environment.  

The announcement follows another significant year of growth for the business. In 2018, Company Shop Group increased the amount of surplus it redistributed by 8%, and returned over £16.5m back into the industry for the surplus it purchased. Following the opening of two more superstores in 2018, the Group also has ambitious plans for continued expansion in 2019.  

The Award also recognises the Group’s award-winning social enterprise Community Shop, the award-winning social enterprise established by Company Shop Group, which sells high-quality, low-cost surplus food to local members who are receiving welfare support and are motivated to make a positive change in their lives and enrol on courses such as employability, financial skills and self-confidence.  

Handling more than 70 million items of surplus stock in 2018 alone, the business provides all the major retailers, manufacturers and brands with a sustainable solution to tackle supply chain challenges in their operations. Company Shop Group strives to change mindsets across the sector to unlock the full potential in surplus and avoid unnecessary waste.  

Surplus products are redistributed through the Group’s national network of membership-only superstores, staff shops operating on manufacturing sites, click and collect locations and Community Shops. The surplus food and household items are sold at deeply discounted prices to people working in food manufacturing, emergency services and the NHS (Company Shop) and to those living in low-income communities, receiving welfare support (Community Shop).

Company Shop Group has a unique proposition amongst the redistribution sector, being the only commercial redistributor with permission to handle own-label branded products for all major grocery retailers, alongside having partnerships with global brands. It also has the capacity, infrastructure and technical capabilities required to access the ‘harder to reach’ surplus and to further increase the volumes of surplus items being redistributed in the UK. HM-Lord Lieutenant for the South Yorkshire, Andrew Coombe, will present the award at Company Shop Group headquarters in autumn, on behalf of the Queen.  

John Marren, Founder and Chairman of Company Shop Group, said:  

“It is an absolute honour to receive our second Queen’s Award, which is reflective of our unwavering commitment to sustainability and our guiding principle of being a business which is a force for social good.  

“It is also a true testament to the hard-work and dedication of hundreds our colleagues across the business, who have helped to achieve so much, and to all our partners across the industry who enable us to generate such transformative social, economic and environmental impact every day.