EF-group (formerly e-foods), whose procurement and menu management software is relied upon by industry-leading businesses in sectors such as care and education, is celebrating 20 years in business this July.
In that time, CEO Paul Mizen and his team have built the company from the ground up to an estimated £100 million enterprise, which was sold to multinational conglomerate Compass Group in 2022.
“It’s been a great journey,” Paul told Business Live. “I founded it in 2004, from the back bedroom of my house – me and another shareholder. I worked for another company that did a similar thing to us, and I thought we could do it better.”
Paul and his team’s success has been built on their procurement software Freshmarkets – a flexible purchase-to-pay solution that can be used to purchase anything from food and beverages to cleaning products and even building materials, through their collaborations with over 2,000 local and national supply chain partners.
Meanwhile, CaterCloud is the company’s powerful allergen and menu management solution, that delivers compliance across catering operations.
Paul Mizen is the co-founder and CEO of procurement software provider EF-group (formerly e-foods) (Image: EF-group) In the early 2000s, procurement was a very different matter – as Paul recalled of his former employers: “They worked with, say, 50 suppliers, and they would send 50 different coloured invoices. So, there were mountains of paperwork.”
The budding entrepreneur knew that the future of the industry was going to be in software, so he left and started his own company, which was going to make things as easy as possible for his customers.
“Your customers will build your business,” he said, “if you look after them and work with them and have the right team behind you, they will help you grow. We’re constantly having meetings with clients, saying: ‘That’s the system, that’s what it does – what do you want it to do?’.
“I always look at IT from the customer’s perspective, not from ours and now we’re the largest food and non-food procurement partner in the care sector.”
“Having the right solution in place and client demand enabled EF-group to be able to offer everything – dried and frozen food, cleaning, stationery, sand and cement, railway sleepers… You name it, it goes through Freshmarkets.”
Nearly 20 years ago, EF-group won the HC-One contract, and that was a massive win for the business as they are the biggest care home group in the UK. To keep that relationship going for 20 years is testament to Paul and the team at EF; they now service over 3,000 care homes.
A proud family man, Paul is delighted that he has passed on his passion for the business to his children, with three of them working at EF. There are five families working throughout the business and Paul also worked with his wife for several years who he says was “a good sounding board”.
Naturally, 20 years in business have had their ups and downs, but Paul learned early in his career what he was made of, and it has clearly stood him in good stead.
“I owned my own business years ago and it went bust. I lost my house but that didn’t stop me wanting to get back into owning my own business. If it’s in you, it’s in you,” he said.
“Everyone makes mistakes – if you don’t make mistakes, you’re not trying. I made some absolute crackers! But I also made some brilliant decisions that have taken the business to £100 million. As long as the good times outweigh the mistakes, you’re going the right way.”
Two years ago, Paul was faced with a big decision when Compass Group made an offer for the business and, given his fellow shareholders would have had to wait until he was 70 to buy him out, he realised that now was the right time to sell.
“I’d have been an idiot not to sell now, rather than waiting until I was 70, because of what it can do for your kids, your wife, your family,” he said. “It was a wow moment. I’d built a business from nothing, to having the biggest catering company in the world come in to buy the business. It was an emotional time, absolutely.”
Although Paul remains as CEO and the business runs independently, he plans to move into the chairmanship this year, slowing down a little – but with no plans to stop.
“My job is guiding the team, working with them, listening to them, sitting on the IT committee and helping to develop that,” he said.
“Then I’ll maybe get involved in investing in some smaller companies in the food industry and help to develop them. I won’t retire. You can work while you’re on holiday – I can only sit on a sunbed for so long!”
To find out how EF-group’s solutions can help your catering operations, please visit ef-group.co.uk