Cauliflower

Cauliflower is a key brassica

During a financial year which saw labour costs shoot up by over £2 million, veg giant Staples saw its pre-tax profit halved but turnover remained steady.

The Lincolnshire-headquartered business, which processes, markets and distributes vegetables, recorded a turnover of £76.9m for the year to 31 August 2015, while pre-tax profit slumped from £1.6m to just over £800,000.

Speaking in the report accompanying the accounts, director Vernon Read, said: “The directors are satisfied with the results for the year. Turnover for the year totalled £76.8m, which is a small decrease of two per cent on the previous year. The retained profit for the year is £500,000 after dividends voted of £50,000.

'Depreciation charges have also risen as a result of continued annual investment in plant machinery and vehicles. Total capital spend in the year was in excess of £3m for the second year running.'

On the labour front, Read noted that the average number of monthly employees at Staples had risen in the financial year in question by 16.6 per cent to 814.

The firm's wage bill shot up from £14.4m in 2013-14, to £17.7m in 2014-15 - a figure which is 23 per cent of Staples' turnover, up from 18 per cent the previous year.

Staples made newspaper headlines in November 2014 when Mail Online reported that it aimed to house hundreds of students from

Romania and Bulgaria in caravans. The firm was given district council permission to expand its on-site accommodation to take on more EU student labour due to its “inability to recruit from the indigenous population”. Read told the news outlet that in 2012, Staples received just 11 applicants for 130 roles after advertising for the positions locally in Lincolnshire.