Baking a tasty new recipe for success and jobs
Food manufacturing in Corby has been given a major boost with the official opening of a £2 million chilled pastry production site, creating 40 new jobs and the promise of many more to come.
The opening of the Bakeaway Limited site, formerly Parker’s Fine Foods Factory, on Baird Road, marks the beginning of an ambitious development plan.With a contract already secured to supply Sainsbury’s chilled pastry range, Bakeaway Limited was officially opened last week by Louise Mensch, MP for Corby and East Northamptonshire and Councillor Gail McDade, Mayor of Corby Borough.
Bakeaway Limited has set its sights on becoming the UK’s No.1 chilled pastry supplier. Managing director Brian Homewood wants to increase the projected first year turnover of £4.5million to double that in year two. With negotiations underway to forge links to the catering and business sections of Tresham College, giving students an opportunity to have practical development projects to work on, he is confident about future growth.
Homewood said: “We are currently supplying Sainsbury’s nationwide with 11 new products and our longer term plans are to grow the business by identifying other distribution points for our products.
“One of our main selling points is that our pastry is made entirely from British wheat, whereas rival brands import pastry to the UK from Germany and Austria. Our pastry ingredients have low food miles before they reach our factory, which leads to superior product quality. Our flour, for example, is milled within 20 miles of our site.
“A number of the staff here have many years’ experience in pastry manufacture and we have specialised experience in the home baking market – an area we intend to concentrate on.”
The home baking market has seen growth of 13 per cent in the past 12 months. There has also been a staggering 25 per cent uplift in pastry usage in the past 18 months as people go out less and spend more money on home cooking and entertaining friends.
Homewood, who has 30 years’ experience in chilled pastry, added: “The key message to get across to the public is that our products are great quality and very easy to use. They are rolled on baking paper so all you need to do is unroll the pastry, add your filling of choice then pop it in the oven.”
• PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS: Bill Saxby, Brian Homewood, Councillor Gail McDade, Mayor of Corby Borough and Louise Mensch MP.
