Member Article

Expansion for Rowntree heir and entrepreneur’s new venture

A new enterprise by the latest confectionery entrepreneur from York’s Rowntree family has expanded into Thorp Arch Estate to cope with rapid growth.

Confectionery wholesale business, Bon Bon’s, founded in 2001 by Mark Rowntree, great grandson of social reformer Joseph Rowntree, has relocated to 13,300 sq ft Unit 1 Ash Way, to consolidate the company in one premises, enhance efficiency and cater for further growth.​

Mark Rowntree, who brought in co-director, Peter Julian in 2008, has created double-digit business growth every year, in spite of launching during the UK economy’s darkest hour, and now has 85 staff and a turnover fast approaching £5 million.

Born out of the Bon Bon sweet shop business that Mark started with his wife Lesley, his wholesale company sources a wide range of luxury confectionery, from Belgian chocolates to boiled sweets, gourmet mallows and Specialist liquorices and supplies hundreds of independent retailers, farm shops, delicatessens, department stores and tourist attractions throughout the UK including the Tower of London, British Museum, Kew Gardens Alton Towers and Chatsworth House.

He says: “Although we do not have mass market aspirations, we started out in a unit the size of a residential garage on a small private business estate in Wetherby.

“Our rapid expansion meant that we were finally based in three separate premises, which was not great for internal communications and also meant that forklift trucks had to travel between them, whatever the weather.

“We are heavily reliant on good local people and did not want to change our well-established packing team so it was very fortunate that Thorp Arch Estate enabled us to move the business into one building.

“We now have a far better working environment for our staff in an attractive parkland setting close to the national motorway network.

“The Thorp Arch Estate team has been very supportive and accommodating by having our new premises reconfigured to meet our needs. They could not have made it easier for us.”

The two-million sq. ft. Thorp Arch Estate, a former war time munitions factory, is the base for a diverse range of more than 140 businesses, from start-ups to large Plcs, operating in local, national and international markets and employing more than 1,800 people.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .