Muffin machine maker wins £1m US order

A LANCASHIRE manufacturer which has embarked on a mission to sell its muffin-making equipment worldwide has won an order worth more than £1m from the USA.

Sugden, based in Barrowford, produces hotplates which are used by major food brands to make traditional savouries such as crumpets, pancakes, potato cakes and English muffins.

The American order results from its new partnership with the baking equipment manufacturer AMF Bakery Systems of Virginia.

Working together, the companies can supply bakeries around the world with complete production lines capable of turning out up to 26,000 English muffins an hour.

Sugden’s success comes a year after the firm was acquired by Baldwin Engineering Holdings of Heywood. The deal, which was backed by Lancashire County Council’s Rosebud Finance, helped secure Sugden’s future following the sudden death of its co-founder Barry Mulholland.

Since then Chris Baldwin, who is now managing director of both companies, has focused on driving export sales and expects to triple Sugden’s turnover in the year ahead.

“Sugden had an international reputation and occasional big orders, but turnover was up and down. We knew that we could improve this dramatically by looking to export markets,” he said.

“The partnership with AMF has given us access to bakeries throughout the USA and Asia Pacific.

“This year we have been to the USA and Australia twice, as well as China and Malaysia, to meet potential customers. We expect exports will represent between 30% and 60% of our future business so are extremely important to our growth.”

Sugden will be exhibiting at the world’s largest bakery exhibition in Las Vegas in 2016. The company has also boosted orders at home with the launch of its new Multiplant system that allows greater flexibility in crumpet and pancake manufacturing.

Rosebud is a finance package supporting Lancashire firms to grow and expand their business.

It is managed by Enterprise Ventures on behalf of Lancashire County Developments Ltd (LCDL) – the county council’s economic development company.

County Councillor Niki Penney, chair of LCDL said: “We’re pleased to hear about Sugden’s success so far and wish them well for further growth in the future.

“Paul Ferguson of Enterprise Ventures said: “Sugden’s success demonstrates how a specialist manufacturer can generate a more consistent order book by looking to markets further afield rather than relying too heavily on UK trade.”