Gourmet food business rolls out expansion plans after funding boost

A Shropshire-based gourmet food business has expanded its manufacturing base and product range after securing a £77,000 grant from the Marches LEP.

Coopers Gourmet Foods, renowned for its premium sausage rolls and other gourmet food products, has been used to expand its headquarters in Roden.

Founded above the company’s delicatessen in Oswestry in 2010, Coopers Sausage Rolls quickly gained widespread popularity and led founder Ivan Watkiss to take the plunge with a dedicated manufacturing facility.

He said: “Our sausage rolls were born out of a desire to diversify our business during the recession, but I never dreamt they’d become so popular.  Within a year, we’d decided to move to the Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre and after a further move in to a larger unit there, we took the plunge and invested in a derelict building in the village of Roden.  That was in 2015 and growth hasn’t, thankfully, slowed at all.

“We were fortunate enough at that time to receive a Redundant Building Grant which enabled us to build the very best production, packing and storage facilities but within just six months we knew that to realise the full potential of the business, further expansion would be necessary.”

Having previously received grant funding, Watkiss said he was already tuned in to the benefits of such financing options and kept in regular contact with Mandy Swain, a senior business advisor at Telford & Wrekin Council.

The Marches Building Investment Grant totals £2.5m and is open to businesses across Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin that need to fund extensions, renovations or reconfigurations of commercial premises.  All projects receiving funding through the scheme must be completed by August 2019.

Watkiss said: “Applying for this latest funding was relatively straightforward given we’d previously gone through a similar application process. That said, the support we received from Caroline Cattle and her team was exceptional and has made a tangible difference to our business.

“The simple reality is, that without this grant we’d have needed to consider alternative funding streams and it’s unlikely that we’d have been able to progress before another three to five years.”

For Coopers Gourmet Foods, receiving the grant means increased production space, a discrete temperature-controlled packing area and more frozen storage facilities, and the ability to increase its product range and its workforce.

Cattle said: “To have the opportunity to once again work with Ivan and his team as his business continues to grow and diversify has been a real honour and serves as a perfect example of the difference this funding makes.

“Whilst Ivan’s vision for expanding his workforce stood at five extra full-time employees, the introduction of a twilight shift to deliver the expanded product range, means this has already been exceeded and I don’t doubt that Coopers will continue to go from strength to strength.  I’d urge other interested businesses to apply as soon as possible in order to complete work before the programme’s conclusion next summer.”