Hellofresh sinks further into the red as 900 UK jobs lost
The UK arm of Hellofresh has sunk deeper into the red as its sales were cut during its latest financial year, it has been revealed.
The division has reported a pre-tax loss of £19.5m for 2024, new accounts filed with Companies House show.
The latest figure comes after Hellofresh posted a loss of £755,000 in 2023.
The last time the UK arm of Hellofresh made a pre-tax profit was the £8m it reported in 2020. Since then it has lost almost £70m.
The new results also show Hellofresh’s UK turnover fell from £489.9m to £464.4m in the year.
Hellfresh increased its UK headcount from 1,842 to 1,952 in the year.
The rise comes after the division slashed 15 per cent of its workforce in the prior 12 months.
HelloFresh closes major UK location
In a statement signed off by the board, the company said: “In 2024, HelloFresh UK operated against a challenging market backdrop, marked by continued cost-of-living pressures in the UK, elevated interest rates, and persistent volatility in consumer demand.
“While turnover decreased by five per cent, we maintained a resilient gross margin of 27 per cent through discipled pricing and procurement initiatives while opening a new next-gen automation production facility in Derby.”
HelloFresh said its operating loss of £14.8m was “primarily driven by non-recurring costs associated with an upcoming closure of a warehouse as part of the company’s strategy to streamline and consolidate fulfilment operations”.
In October 2024, Hellofresh announced plans to close its distribution centre in Nuneaton in a move which put almost 9000 jobs at risk.
At the time, the recipe box delivery company said the Nuneaton distribution centre would remain operational until the middle of 2025.
The 237,000 sqft building was Hellofresh’s second site when it opened in 2020.
In a statement release then, Hellofresh said: “After reviewing all of our options, we have decided that consolidating our operations and leveraging more of the technologically advanced parts of our network will enable us to offer the best product to our customers while reducing emissions and waste.”