CASE STUDY: CONSUMER BUSINESS
At a glance
50+
£65-75m
€15m
MEET THE CLIENT
A family business with global taste
Founded in 1973 by James Donnelly and named after his two sons – now joint managing directors – Martin Mathew & Co Ltd supplies restaurant chains, caterers, retailers and manufacturing across the UK with 350 product lines, from canned fruit and fish to oils, vinegar and pasta.
What began as a local canned-meat trader grew rapidly after the 1980s, when the company started importing tinned tomatoes from Italy. Today, its team of 45 works with 25–30 global suppliers, and with €15m of annual FX exposure with Investec, the margin on every contract turns on the rate at the moment it’s agreed.
THE CHALLENGE
A 2-3% shift can erode a season.
Martin Mathew’s commitment to quality sees it dealing with suppliers worldwide, making FX a significant part of its financial strategy. In a high-volume, low-margin business, each currency decision feeds directly into profitability, planning and long-term growth.
Where many importers set a single budget rate for the year and plan around it, Martin Mathew’s seasonal buying model doesn’t allow for that. Contracts are agreed throughout the year, and the rate at the point of agreement is the rate the business needs to hold.
THE SOLUTION
A hedging strategy with upside built in.
Martin Mathew’s initial FX strategy focused on simple spot trades or, in some cases, on securing a future rate through forward contracts. This left the business vulnerable, as a 2−3% move between quoting and closing a contract could drastically erode the margin on a deal that looked profitable just weeks earlier.
After talking through the company’s needs, Investec introduced Martin Mathew to FX options, structures capable of delivering what the team refers to as outperformance, achieving underlying rates that exceed the prevailing forward rate.
THE OUTCOME
Built on relationships Backed by trust.
Rather than simply protecting against the downside, each trade now carries the chance to earn an upside, and the business has far greater certainty in its forward planning.
What mattered as much as the product was the process of finding the right solution for the company’s specific needs. As Investec relationship lead Rob Small says: "The goal wasn't to sell Grady something complex, we wanted to make sure he understood his choices well enough to make the right call".
WHAT’S NEXT
Not a transaction. A partnership.
Asked what’s next for Martin Mathew, Grady says the next few years will likely see the business broaden its work with Investec beyond FX, into Global Payment Solutions and other areas of treasury that are growing year on year.
Because each side knows how the other likes to work, it feels like a genuinely two-way relationship – the kind that compounds into enduring worth rather than a sequence of transactions.
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