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Rest of the World
Benefiting from the full year impact of acquisitions made in 2006 combined with continued strong organic growth across the region, at constant exchange rates the Australasia business increased both revenue and operating profit by 10% to £132.6 million and £10.8 million respectively.
Our largest business experienced strong
organic growth and significant improvement
in profitability by providing consolidation supply solutions to their customers across the core sectors of healthcare, industrial, horeca
and retail throughout Australia and New Zealand. In addition our catering equipment consumables business based in Queensland has complemented our offer by providing
a wider range of products to existing customers and creating opportunities to develop in
new markets.
Our food processor supplies businesses delivered strong growth over the previous
year. The two businesses are evolving into
one complementary focused food processor supplies business creating an excellent platform for continued growth. We have invested in additional key sales development resources
to capitalise on new business opportunities
and infrastructure to support future growth.
Our specialist healthcare business had a difficult year but has taken steps to improve operational performance and is now well positioned to develop in the growing aged care sector. We are rolling out an electronic ordering system to their customer base which delivers efficiencies by simplifying the ordering process and enhancing access to information online.
To support the growth of the Australasia business and to enable it to operate in
a more efficient manner, we continue to invest in IT initiatives that will bring benefits to both our customers and suppliers. In 2007 we introduced RF scanning technology into our largest business with excellent results. This process increases accuracy and in turn enhances our customer satisfaction by reducing credits,
as well as improving the order picking process. We plan to roll the programme out into the branch network throughout 2008.
In February 2008 we acquired Prot Cap,
a leading national supplier of personal protection equipment based in São Paulo, which represents our first move into the large and rapidly growing Brazilian market. Its results will be reported within the Rest of the World business area.
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