Farm fresh

Place UK is a perfect example of a farm business that has diversified into lucrative avenues of processing, having survived and prospered through flexibility.

The firm, based in Tunstead, Norfolk, has access to 142ha of land for cultivation and straddles growing, picking, blanching, cooking, puréeing, freezing, slicing and dicing and de-canning facilities, with annual sales of £9.5M. Customers range from Sainsbury and the Co-operative Group to manufacturers such as Wilkins & Sons and Premier Foods.

Over time, Place UK's product base has expanded to embrace conventional, GM-free and Soil Association-certified organic fresh, frozen and dried vegetables, pulses and pasta, home-grown and imported soft and exotic fruits. And there's more. The recruitment of operations director Andy Shepherdson (pictured above) from Heinz's Kendal plant in Cumbria in June 2008 sparked more change.

Shepherdson, who was born and bred in Teesside and began his food industry career on KP Foods' graduate management programme, has overseen hundreds of thousands of pounds of innovations. The latest, for example, was the Hand Picked Norfolk range of five frozen fruit varieties launched in independent retailer Roys of Wroxham three months ago.

In terms of plant design, dry storage space was increased in August 2008. An £80,000 cold store extension was completed in April. An engineering workshop has been completed. Other initiatives include altering pipe work on the purée line, freeing up two workers for other duties. Automated packaging is next. And replacement gas heaters have saved up to £500 per month, with a five-month return on investment.

Expansion is being pursued via other means too. Place UK's financial position doesn't preclude it splashing out on outside concerns in its quest to grow value sales by 15% year-on-year. "We're a cash-rich business," says md Tim Place. "We have a large amount to invest, we're looking at acquisitions and are in talks with third parties at the moment."

However, Shepherdson says developing the firm is not just about capital expenditure, but about reworking systems and processes. A classic example is order handling. Previously, poor communication between operations staff, who used to field telephone orders initially, and the pack house had led to the latter lying idle for hours before picking up on purchases.

"Now orders are taken directly by the packhouse and it can get on to them straight away," says Shepherdson. "It can ring the field to say we need x amount [of fruit] before I even know and I can inquire about how many orders we have at a later point."

Installing SAP technology to minimise paperwork and handle ordering and production a few months ago has also helped.

Other tweaks have improved efficiency elsewhere. "We went from 20 to 26 pallets [of fruit] per wagon by using stronger cardboard, which I negotiated at no extra cost," says Shepherdson. Previously, packaging would bulge, occupying extra space.

Staff organisation has also benefited from increased efficiency. Weekly planning meetings have been instigated involving the farm manager, factory managers, operations and communications assistant and Shepherdson so production schedules can be managed better. A separate project has enabled staff to be transferred between production and picking and ensured managers can be pulled into processing functions to cover absences.

With his wife Sandie and three children, Caitlin, aged four, Kirsty, aged six, and 13-year-old Daniel, you would think Shepherdson would want an easy life. He certainly speaks of reaching a crossroads at age 42, attempting to reconcile the tensions of family and career.

After he boosted efficiency at Heinz's Kendal factory over two years, his former employer wanted to post him to other UK and overseas sites to replicate his success. He chose a more settled family life at Place UK.

But settling down with a smaller processor hasn't meant settling for fewer challenges. If anything, he speaks animatedly about the freedom he's enjoyed with his current employer to innovate fast: "If I have any new ideas, Tim says 'great'. You can put samples together for customers and - bang - you've got the contract the same day. I've never experienced that before."

== Power to the people ==

Ultimately, Shepherdson downplays his part in any improvements, saying: "About 70% of what we've done here in the past year has come from [workers on] the factory floor."

His comment reflects Place UK's efforts to involve staff in decisions and support them throughout. The treatment of its employees is something it prides itself on, earning it a Tesco 'Best Employee Facilities' certificate. On top of its 57 permanent crew, there's a constant churn of 400 seasonal fruit picking and production line staff hailing from everywhere from Australia to Poland.

At a time when manufacturers' use of migrant workers is facing negative press, Place UK is a positive role model. The amenities it offers these employees are reminiscent of a holiday camp, rather than a factory. There is table tennis and football leagues, and a games room with its own bar, where sporting events are screened, offering a range of entertainment such as karaoke. There are self-catering chalets and a regularly replenished grocery outlet on site, where people can buy their food and drink for the week, plus an internet café

Judging by the quality and treatment of its staff and its flexibility, Place UK is in the best possible place for future growth. FM

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=== Company history ===

1922: Business begins as a farm

1954: R & JM Place formed by Tim's father, John

1976: Firm buys individual quick freezing (IQF) kit

1986: Joins Kentish Garden, now Berry Gardens, moving into fresh fruit retail sales

1988: Starts supplying Sainsbury

2000: Becomes Place UK