Member Article

Barnsley food company Rupert's Recipes invests £250k in move to six times bigger premises

Barnsley-based food manufacturing company Rupert’s Recipes have invested £250k in new factory premises nearly six times larger than its existing base.

The move will enable Rupert’s Recipes to blend three times as much product a week.

The company has invested £250k in new production line and packaging machinery and plans to create ten new jobs during 2015. It currently employs five people.

Iftikhar Azam, managing director of Rupert’s Recipes expects the increase in capacity will see the company’s turnover double again to £1million by the end of next year.

Rupert’s Recipes will start re-locating to a new factory on Fields End Business Park, Goldthorpe this month.

Rupert’s Recipes produces a range of flour-based coatings for chicken and fish as well as, marinades and seasonings.

Its customers include major food production brands and wholesale suppliers to the restaurant and fast-food industry.

The company currently has £500k worth of orders on the books and a further £300k worth of new enquiries ready for when production is stepped up at their new factory.

Rupert’s Recipes’ move has been supported by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, a partner in the South Yorkshire Sector Growth Enhancement Programme (SYSGEP).

Iftikhar said: “Now is an excellent time for us to move into larger premises so that we can upscale our production to meet our existing and potential customers’ requirements.

“We have never lost a customer because we are responsive to their different needs. We aim to deliver on taste, price and service. I think, that is why, as a small independent production company, we have grown so fast in the market against much larger competition. We now want the capacity to do more to the same high standard.”

SYSGEP-funded support for Rupert’s Recipes has been focused on branding, marketing, recruitment, HR and funding.

Barnsley’s SYSGEP sector growth manager Adrian Waite said: “Rupert’s Recipes has seen excellent growth in its first five years of trading and is now investing in expansion which will give it the extra capacity it needs to triple productivity levels and develop new products.

“We are delighted that they have grown their business in Barnsley and look forward to seeing the workforce expand in the next 12 months.”

SYSGEP is part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Yorkshire and The Humber ERDF Programme 2007-13.

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