The owner of Yorkshire Tea brewed up sales of almost £300m during its latest financial year, newly-released documents have confirmed.
The Betty’s & Taylors Group has posted a turnover of £295.7m for the year to October 31, 2023, up from £260.5m.
The Harrogate-headquartered group’s pre-tax profits also rose from £9.8m to £12.9m over the same period, according to newly-filed accounts with Companies House.
Yorkshire Tea is made by Taylors of Harrogate, which forms part of the group alongside five Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, a craft bakery, Betty’s Cookery School and Betty’s by Post.
Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms are owned by the same group that makes Yorkshire Tea. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)
A statement signed off by the board said: “We successfully mitigated rising costs by focusing on the efficiency and effectiveness of our own operations.
“Operational efficiencies and cost savings were achieved across all areas of the group, with the most notable improvement being in tea and coffee production, where cost per kilo of production was reduced by eight per cent in tandem with a six per cent increase in production volume.
“We remain passionate in our desire to continue to develop products that will delight our customers for years to come and have continued to invest in the business to ensure that we remain able to satisfy demand for our products and to navigate the challenging times ahead.”
UK sales increased from £242.9m to £275.9m, from £11.1m to £13.3m in the US and from £5.5m to £6.4m in the rest of the world.
During the year the average number of people employed by the group dipped from 1,598 to 1,548.