What Stephensons does

Stephensons (legal entity HG. Stephenson Limited) is a privately held, fifth-generation family-run B2B distributor of catering equipment, supplies, and consumables, founded in 1868 on Salford's Flat Iron Market and headquartered in Stockport, Greater Manchester, with a warehouse in Cheadle. The company sells across roughly a dozen core categories — catering equipment, food and drink packaging, crockery, cutlery, glassware, bar and kitchen equipment, paper hygiene, cleaning supplies, health and safety equipment, and chef clothing — distributing third-party brands such as Steelite, Churchill China, Genware, Dudson, Amefa, Robert Welch, WMF, and Tork, alongside its own sub-brands including the Manchester Bee eco range, Folio Concorde porcelain, and Rustico Ecogres stoneware. Inventory exceeds £2m across more than 6,000 stocked lines, supported by a North's-largest showroom and Cash & Carry in Stockport, an own-fleet delivery operation across the North West, and UK-wide Territory Managers handling enterprise accounts (including TUCO-member universities and the Co-op Live arena).

The business operates a multi-channel go-to-market combining an e-commerce storefront with Quick Order/CSV bulk-reorder functionality, click & collect, telephone/email sales, and a field sales team, with a trade account program that offers volume discounts and dedicated account management. Pricing is unit-based for non-account customers and volume-discounted for trade accounts, with free delivery over £60 and next-day delivery on stocked items ordered before 3pm. Revenue is generated almost entirely through product resale (hardware_sales model) at SMB scale across restaurants, bars, hotels, schools/universities, event organisers, and takeaway/delivery operators, with selective larger enterprise wins. Stephensons is privately held with no external institutional investment and is a member of the Caterbar independent distributor group for collective buying power; in 2025 it was named FEA Distributor of the Year and its Managing Director Henry Stephenson received the FEA Donald Bird Award.

Name

Stephensons

Legal name

HG. Stephenson Limited

Website

https://stephensons.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1868

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Stephensons is a fifth-generation, family-owned UK B2B distributor of catering equipment, tableware, packaging, and consumables, selling 6,000+ SKUs to restaurants, hotels, universities, and event venues via e-commerce, field sales, and a Stockport showroom.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Catering Equipment Distribution

NAICS

Service Establishment Equipment and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers (42385)

SIC

Wholesale-Professional & Commercial Equipment & Supplies (5040)

akta.pro primary industry

Traditional Cash & Carry Wholesalers (No/Low Membership) (CRAEAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Office, School & Business Supplies Online Retailers (CRAFADAL)

Keywords

• Catering equipment supplies
• Food packaging wholesale
• Professional kitchen equipment
• Hospitality supplies distribution
• Commercial catering products

Headquarters

HQ city

Stockport

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Product Sales: Stephensons generates revenue through the sale of catering equipment, disposable supplies, tableware, glassware, cutlery, cleaning supplies, and related products. The company offers both one-time purchases and bulk orders through trade accounts with discounted pricing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Stephensons is a UK catering equipment and hospitality supplies distributor that sells professional kitchen equipment, food and drink packaging, crockery, cutlery, glassware, bar equipment, paper hygiene, cleaning chemicals, chef clothing, and health and safety products to restaurants, bars, hotels, schools, event organisers, and takeaway operators. Customers can buy online via the Stephensons e-commerce platform, open a trade account for bulk-order discounts with a dedicated account manager, browse the Stockport showroom and Cash & Carry, or work with a Territory Manager via the field sales team, with next-day delivery available on stocked items ordered before 3pm.

Product overview

Stephensons is a fifth-generation family-run catering equipment distributor established in 1868, offering a comprehensive B2B e-commerce platform for professional catering supplies. The portfolio consists of core product categories including Food & Drink Packaging (takeaway containers, coffee cups, napkins), Crockery (from brands like Steelite, Churchill China, Genware, Dudson, Rustico), Cutlery (economy and premium ranges), Glassware (beer, wine, cocktail), Bar Equipment, Kitchen Equipment (utensils, appliances, storage), Paper Hygiene, Cleaning Supplies, Health & Safety Equipment, and Chef Clothing. Key product sub-brands include Folio Concorde porcelain, Rustico Ecogres stoneware, Steelite professional crockery, Churchill China ranges, Manchester Bee eco-friendly packaging, BioCup compostable cups, DayMark labelling systems, and Delivita pizza ovens. The platform includes a Quick Order bulk ordering system supporting CSV file uploads. Services include trade accounts with bulk discounts, dedicated account managers, and a physical showroom with over 6,000 stocked lines in Stockport for click & collect.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Catering Equipment Professional catering equipment including commercial kitchen appliances, cookware, utensils, storage containers, refrigeration, and food-preparation machinery supplied to restaurants, hotels, and other hospitality businesses.
• Food and Drink Packaging Takeaway and food-service packaging for QSR, delivery, and event catering, including pizza boxes, burger boxes, food cartons, noodle boxes, foil and clear plastic containers, bagasse containers, cake boxes, coffee cups, paper bags, napkins, and labelling solutions.
• Crockery Professional tableware from leading brands such as Steelite, Churchill China, Genware, Dudson, Utopia, and Rustico, covering porcelain, stoneware, fine china, vitrified porcelain, melamine, and enamelware.
• Cutlery Catering cutlery including economy 18/0 stainless steel and premium 18/10 ranges from brands such as Windsor, Westminster, Amefa, Robert Welch, and WMF, alongside disposable and specialist cutlery options.
• Glassware Glassware for all beverage service including beer glasses, wine glasses, gin and tonic glasses, champagne glasses, cocktail glasses, tumblers, shot glasses, coffee glasses, sundae glasses, and disposable plastic glasses, with recent Artis collection launches in 2025.
• Bar Equipment Professional bar supplies including straws, stirrers, measures, pourers, cocktail shakers, ice buckets, wine coolers, glass care products, bar blenders, and cocktail syrups.
• Kitchen Equipment Kitchen supplies including chef knives, utensils, gastronorm containers, storage boxes, thermometers, kitchen disposables such as cling film, foil and parchment, and allergen labelling equipment.
• Paper Hygiene Paper products including blue roll, hand towels, toilet tissue, and facial tissues, with branded systems from Tork and Leonardo.
• Cleaning Supplies Cleaning chemicals, hand hygiene products, virucidal disinfectants, cloths, scourers, hotel toiletries, gloves, workwear, colour-coded cleaning systems, waste management, and electrical cleaning equipment, with CHSA Accreditation for sustainable sourcing.
• Health and Safety Equipment Food safety products including allergen signs and labels, Natasha's Law compliance items, fire safety equipment, caution signs, first aid kits, PPE, and temperature control equipment.
• Chef Clothing Hospitality workwear including chef jackets, trousers, aprons, shirts, polo shirts, t-shirts, waistcoats, ties, hats, caps, shoes, clogs, and high-visibility clothing.
• Manchester Bee Eco Range Eco-friendly takeaway packaging range featuring the Manchester Bee motif, including paper sip straws and coffee cups, Flustix certified, with proceeds donated to the We Love MCR Charity.
• Folio Concorde Crockery Range Premium matt black porcelain coupe plate range by Steelite with a modern minimalist design for contemporary dining establishments.
• Rustico Stoneware Stoneware collection made from Ecogres recycled surplus stoneware clay with earthy colours in a modern style, microwave and dishwasher safe.
• Trade Account Service Trade account programme offering bulk-order discounts, dedicated account managers, and personalised ordering support for business customers purchasing catering equipment and supplies.
• Showroom and Cash & Carry Physical showroom in the Stockport area where customers can browse over 6,000 stocked lines of catering equipment and supplies, with click-and-collect, free parking on site, and same-day purchase via the cash-and-carry facility.

Quantifiable outcome

• Awarded Distributor of the Year by FEA (2025)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• TUCO (The University Caterer's Organisation)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorStephensons is a nominated supplier of catering equipment to the higher and further education sectors as a member of TUCO, supplying university caterers throughout the UK.
• Caterbar GroupcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAs a member of the Caterbar group of independent businesses, Stephensons benefits from greater buying power, enabling them to offer better deals and offers to account members year-round.
• Co-Op LiveminorOthersStephensons provided catering equipment to Manchester's new arena, Co-op Live, across its multitude of concessions, bars, lounges, and restaurants.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Lockhart Catering Equipment: Lockhart is a UK-focused distributor of professional catering equipment, kitchenware, and tableware serving hospitality and food service operators with a similar product breadth and B2B distribution approach as Stephensons.
• Nisbets: Nisbets is the UK's largest cateringsupplier, offering catering equipment, supplies, and consumables across the same B2B customer base (restaurants, bars, hotels, schools, takeaways) as Stephensons, with a comparable e-commerce + showroom + delivery multi-channel model.
• Alliance Online: Alliance Online is a UK online cateringsupplier offering catering supplies, disposables, and equipment directly to hospitality businesses through a pure-play e-commerce model, overlapping significantly with Stephensons' product range and target customers.
• Cooksmill: Cooksmill is a UK cateringsupplier offering take-away packaging, disposables, and cleaning supplies online, overlapping strongly with Stephensons' disposables, eco-packaging, and janitorial product categories.
• CCG Catering Equipment & Supplies: CCG is a UK-based online catering supplies retailer specializing in disposables, packaging, kitchenware, and tableware for hospitality and foodservice operators, directly overlapping with Stephensons' e-commerce product range.
• Premier Foodservice / Premier Catering Equipment: Premier is a UK-based catering equipment and supplies distributor serving restaurants, takeaways, and hospitality operators with a comparable product mix of equipment, disposables, and consumables as Stephensons.

Broad incumbents

• Brakes Group: Brakes Group is one of the largest UK foodservice distributors offering broad-spectrum catering supplies, equipment, and food products to hospitality operators; an incumbent that overlaps with Stephensons on the non-food equipment and supplies side of its catalog.
• Bidvest Foodservice (3663): 3663 (formerly Bidvest Foodservice) is a major UK foodservice wholesaler providing broad catering supplies including non-food consumables and equipment to UK hospitality customers, serving institutional buyers that Stephensons also targets.

Emerging players

• WebstaurantStore Europe: WebstaurantStore is a large-scale US-originated online catering supplies retailer expanding in Europe, offering deep catalog of catering, foodservice, and packaging supplies with very competitive pricing, posing direct competition to Stephensons' e-commerce channel.

Others

• Genuine Tea & Coffee / Blue Star Products: Bluestar Coffee is an adjacent UK coffee and beverage supplier that targets the same hospitality and foodservice operator base as Stephensons and occasionally competes on bundled beverage service offerings, but does not directly overlap on equipment and tableware.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HGStephensons
• Facebookfacebook.com/HGStephensons
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hg-stephensons-ltd.

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Stephensons