New business unit is recipe for success for Market Drayton-based Gills Puddings

Gills Puddings Ltd has expanded into adjoining business units at Tern Valley Business Park in Market Drayton after a £425,000 investment supported by Barclays.

The new units will incorporate staff canteen, office space and a production line to accommodate business demand for a gluten free range of products, creating 10 new jobs over the next 12 months.

Established in 1996 and employing 26 staff, Gills Puddings Ltd makes hand crafted desserts, puddings and cakes.

Kim Smith, company director at Gills Puddings, said: “We have built a solid reputation for the quality of our product through our innovative approach and commitment to meeting customer needs. We work closely with head chefs to develop products our customers want rather than just producing something and trying to sell it.

"We produce over 1,000,000 portions of high end desserts every year to local restaurants, pubs, golf clubs and supply desserts to a number of leading national restaurant chains.

"The demand for gluten free products is rising year-on-year, so we felt this was the right time to create a self-contained gluten free bakery with no risk of cross contamination.

"We are one of the very few bakeries across the UK to offer such production guarantees and we anticipate the gluten free market to increase our turnover by as much as 25 per cent next year.”

James Caddy, Barclays business banking manager, said: “As champions of local business, it is essential that we support local growing businesses such as Gills Puddings Ltd.

"By really understanding the business and issues they have faced, Barclays has been able to support the business throughout its development. The business started at the family kitchen in Whitchurch with Gills passion for baking and now have a successful business employing 26 people. This expansion is an endorsement of the highly successful business Kim and Gill have developed and we had no hesitation in delivering a finance solution to support the expansion.”

Kim added: “We are now entering the busy festive period which account for as much as 30 per cent of our annual turnover. We already have orders for 55,000 Christmas puddings.

"We still feel there is a massive opportunity in the local and domestic market and would encourage anyone to get in touch to sample our product offering. The investment in the new units was a major investment in an uncertain Brexit economy with much uncertainty around future import costs and strength of sterling but we feel we have a great product regardless of the external factors and confidence in our business model.”