Yorkshire puddings firm pushes into frozen

Chilled food specialist The Real Yorkshire Pudding Company is aggressively expanding in frozen food, aided by a £50,000 loan, which will enable the firm to increase turnover by £1M.

The South Yorkshire Investment Fund (SYIF) loaned the money to purchase a blast-freezer, which was needed to preserve a national contract and hence guarantee the jobs of its 70 employees for at least two years.

The increased demand for frozen food provided an opportunity for expansion and the company created an additional chill store and a cold store on the premises. The blast freezer preserves the shape of the puddings by freezing them quickly.

Paul Holmes, md of Doncaster-based company, said: “The opportunity to capitalise on growth in the frozen market came at a good time for the company and the loan from SYIF has helped us to grow with it, satisfying demands of high profile clients.

“This has strengthened our position in the foodservice industry and complements our growing presence in the export markets of Europe and Canada.

“The blast freezer means we are now as proficient in the frozen foodservices industry as we have been in the chilled market for the past 12 years and we are now in an extremely healthy position to grow into different markets. The business is secured for the next two years at least and our prospects have been given an extra dimension.”

SYIF’s investment director Karl Hodson said: “The company’s growth into the frozen market has been relatively quick and it is a positive statement about its flexibility to respond to industry changes.

“It will provide further opportunity to export and enable the company to build on its impressive expansion programme.”