Food and drink wholesaler, Thomas Ridley, based in Rougham, near Bury St Edmunds, awarded AA grade by the British Retail Consortium Global Standard

A food and drink company is celebrating after scoring top marks for a gobal industry standard.

Wholesalers Thomas Ridley Foodservice, based in Rougham, near Bury St Edmunds, was recently awarded an AA grade by the British Retail Consortium Global Standard (BRCGS) for food storage and distribution safety.

The company, which supplies a range of hospitality, healthcare and education customers, say it has taken ‘lots of hard work and dedication’ from across the team.

Operations director, Mark Murphy led the drive, alongside logistics manager, Aaron Letch, and compliance administrator, Jo Jackson.

Mr Murphy said: “I’m really proud of the team here for all of their hard work over the past year to keep Thomas Ridley at the top of this globally-recognised standard.

“It gives our customers that extra piece of mind that we are a trusted and reputable food and drink supplier, committed to providing the best service possible.

“Last year was our first time applying for this certification, having previously held ISO 9001. We were thrilled to pass with a B first time.

“But to surpass that this year and achieve a double A pass has taken a lot of work, fine tuning of processes and attention to detail to demonstrate that we’re really on top of everything and doing everything right.

“There is no higher operational standard in this industry.”

The BRCGS covers safety, quality, and legality of food, packaging, and consumer products in storage and distribution

Mark added: ““Everyone here has done a brilliant job at consistently and professionally following all of the processes and training required to meet, uphold and improve within the ten areas of food storage and distribution safety that the audit covers.

“We are immensely proud to serve our customers with the highest possible standards available within this industry and look forward to maintaining this grade for years to come.”

Thomas Ridley is part of the Caterfood Buying Group and employs almost 200 people at its site on the Rougham Industrial Estate.

It supplies more than 2,000 customers across East Anglia and London, ranging across education, healthcare, leisure and hospitality.

Thomas Ridley also has a large e-commerce business, shipping bulk food and drink items across the UK, and a click and collect offering for its Suffolk-based customers.

In June, the company launched Ridley’s Local, a faster, dedicated service for businesses within five miles of Bury St Edmunds.