Who are McBride?
McBride is a manufacturer of household cleaning and laundry products. Since its inception in Manchester, England in 1927, McBride has grown into a multimillion dollar business producing 1 billion units per year; over three continents and 15 manufacturing facilities. In 1995 it was publicly listen on the London Stock Exchange.
You might be like me and have never heard of McBride, it might be because you’re not from or have never lived in the UK or Europe, it could also be because they are the leading manufacturer of Private Label household products in Europe. What is private label? Private label is when a company produces a product that is then bought by someone else and labelled as their own. McBride does not advertise just who are their clients but an example of private labelling in Australia might be, Woolworths branded items like disinfectant; Woolworths might not have the facilities to test and produce the making of the product so they buy a private labelled product they can resell with their own logo. I found a good video online by Karen Waksman that explains just what private labelling is and how it works. While their core business is in private labelling, McBride have a successful portfolio of their own brands in the UK from Surcare laundry products to Hospec hospital grade cleaning solutions. The last aspect of McBride is their contract manufacturing, where outside companies hire McBride to manufacture or develop a product for them. Laurel Delany has written a comprehensive article about contract manufacturing and it’s pros and cons.
McBride Finances
Between the years 2015 and 2017 McBride went through some major changes as a company. It was struggling to keep up with the number of customers and maintain the quality they had become known for. When Rik De Vos took over as CEO in 2015, he implemented the ‘Repair, Prepare, Grow’ strategy in the hopes of simplifying the now complex business. The company made cuts to their own brands and kept only the four most profitable and successful. I do find it interesting to note that in 2016, only one year after being made CEO Rik De Vos’ total remuneration went from £357,000 in 2015 to a whopping £893,000; considering 2016 was the first time in a decade the total revenue for the company had dipped below £700M. With further examination it can be seen the company made a total of £17m profit after tax in 2016. In my opinion this large profit has come from a decrease in expenses included in their net financial costs and exceptional items; which include items such as company restructuring, and interest paid on loans or overdrafts. The 2018/2019 annual report can be found on their website.
QMS v McBride
In comparison to QMS, the company in ACCT11059, McBride is very different. QMS is an outdoor advertising company that was founded in 2014, had very few products and an array of information about the company on their website and in news articles. McBride is a company that is almost 100 years old, produces hundreds of products and after their rebranding in 2017 there is little information on their company website and all the current news articles focus on their share price – which is interesting but to me is less relevant to this assignment.
At this stage I have no major concerns surrounding the company I have been given and it’s very interesting to go from a baby company to a veteran for my assignments. The only issue I have found was there are more corrections/adjustments made to McBride’s financials. All in all, I’m happy with the company I’ve received and am interested in learning more about them during the assessment.
Accounting 101 