Serial sausage-making entrepreneurs hit £3m in first year trading

SAUSAGE-MAKING family firm Heck has capitalised on the healthy-eating craze and is on track to deliver £7m turnover in their second year.

Run from a small production unit close to the family farm in North Yorkshire, Debbie and Andrew Keeble’s small batch production and recipes with homemade seasoning grew their pork sausage business from zero to £3m in their first year of trading,

Added chicken products are currently driving a 150% increase in sales across the range they’re on track to deliver £7m in 2015.

Last August they were the Number 5 premium sausage range in the country. They firm now has its eye on the UK’s Number 1 spot by 2016.

The family appeared on BBC’s The Fixer series last September and despite  heavy criticism of the Keeble children, remained adamant that their ideas would work.

They enrolling themselves and their children on and benefiting from a series of business leadership and mentoring programmes including the Government-backed Growth Accelerator scheme.

Debbie and Andrew Keeble said:”We’ve had an amazing two years since we set up HECK and things change every day for a small business like ours.

“No day is the ever same and that makes it a great place to be, even if it is hectic at times!

“We are in the factory seven days a week, 364 days a year to keep up with demand and with so much happening including the new lines, a bigger factory on the way and growing the team in the office and factory, it’s an exciting time ahead for us all.”

The Keebles were pig farmers before they moved into food production and who now run the HECK business alongside their children, Guy, Jamie, Roddy and Ellie.

Last month they were chosen as one of the UK’s 50 rising food stars in a Government-back initiative to recognise the entrepreneurs driving British food & drink success.

For Andrew and Debbie Keeble, HECK is their second sausage venture. Originally the creators of the popular Debbie & Andrew’s range, they walked away when a buyout saw the new owners move production out of Yorkshire, selling the company in 2005.