Member Article

County Durham food supplier to expand fresh food range after six-figure investment

Redemption Food, the County Durham-based supplier of fresh food lines to high street retailers, is poised for expansion after its management team secured a significant injection of new investment.

The £650k funding boost, which has been secured through a combination of £100k from NEL Fund Managers’ Finance For Business North East Growth Fund and a further £550k from Secure Trust Bank and ABN Amro Bank, is set to unlock new jobs in the local area and a range of new product lines.

Redemption currently manufactures fresh soups, stews and sauces for high street retailers, including coffee shops and restaurants, and is now poised to expand its product range with dressings, stocks and jams, as well as protein-replacement options for vegetarians now in development.

The Consett firm, which has been operating since 2004, has also pledged to utilise some of the funding to train and develop its 30-strong workforce and is looking at opportunities to employ for new roles within the local area.

Robert Clarke, Managing Director at Redemption Food, said that the new products currently in development should open up new markets for the food suppliers, and that the business was already working with some big high street names.

He said: “We’re already working on a range of openings with well-known High Street outlets which will take us into new territory, and we’re very confident that the products which we’re developing will open new revenue streams through both existing and new customers.”

As part of its growth plans, Robert and Commercial Director Mark Crow want to double the organisation’s turnover to around £7m within five years, and Robert commented that external investment was the only way they could achieve it.

He added: “Our aim is to double our turnover within a five-year period, and we realised that seeking outside investment was the right way in which to give us the resources we needed to achieve this goal.

“NEL Fund Managers were recommended to us by industry contacts, and the investment we’ve now secured gives us the platform we believe we need to fulfil The Redemption Food Company’s undoubted potential.”

David Thomas, investment manager at NEL Fund Managers, commented: “The new Redemption Food management team set out a clear vision for how they want to see the business develop, and it has the commercial knowledge, industry contacts and manufacturing expertise to deliver it.”