A frozen Belgian adventure

On Monday 17th July, two of our buying team colleagues took a trip over to Belgium to visit a couple of our frozen produce suppliers.

Organised by Caterforce, the buying and marketing group to which we belong, the trip was an educational one so we can gain a greater understanding about production, supply and relationships between our businesses.

Charlotte Walker, Buying Manager, and Emelia Stewart, Junior Buyer were invited to visit the fields and factories of d’Arta and Clarebout, both producers of our own brand high quality frozen foods.

The first day involved a visit to d’Arta.

This […]

Pigs-in-blankets aren’t just for Christmas!

Once we started handmaking our own pigs-in-blankets back in 2017, we certainly couldn’t have predicted how popular they would become.

They don’t just sell at Christmas and we’ve come to realise that people love them all year round!

In January of this year, we found ourselves in the midst of a remarkable surge in demand. Sales from January to June were up 161% compared to the previous year; a testament to the growing popularity of pigs-in-blankets being everyone’s favourite at any time of the year.

The numbers speak for themselves:

* January to June 2020: 94 cases – 9,400 individual pigs-in-blankets

* […]

A Refreshing Journey: Celebrating World Environment Day at Marlish Water

World Environment Day is a significant occasion that calls for global action to protect and preserve our planet.

On Monday 5 June 2023, three of our sales managers, Tim Crow, Maxine Whitfield, and Stewart Jack, embarked on an inspiring adventure to Marlish Water.

As a new supplier to us, Marlish Water is known for its locally bottled, high-quality waters in Northumberland.

Tim, Maxine, and Stewart arrived at Marlish Water’s picturesque location and were welcomed as part of a group with tea, coffee and pastries upon arrival. They were given a brief history of […]

Unveiling our brand new vans

In a world where business success is often associated with global expansion and cutting-edge technology, there is something refreshing about a local business investing over £300k to transform their fleet of vans into eye-catching symbols of innovation.

As part of a large investment plan for our business, we recently took delivery of seven brand new vans. In recent years, we have had to use hire vans as a way to expand our fleet to cope with business demand and now we are able to launch our own new vehicles.

Four of the new vans are being used by our Carlisle depot […]

Family Business Community North West Awards 2023

Wholesaler – winner!

We’re so excited to be award winners again after scooping the ‘Wholesaler’ category in the North West Family Business Awards 2023.

The glittering event was certainly a night to remember!

Held at The Concorde Conference Centre, Manchester Airport on Friday 19th May, Graham, David and Lizzie Jenkins attended the black-tie event to which distinguished names within the north west family business world were invited.

The awards evening brought together business leaders, entrepreneurs and industry experts to recognise the hard work, dedication and achievements of innovative and successful family businesses.

The awards were once again presented by food […]

Honouring long service and dedication

We recently recognised and honoured employees who have dedicated 10 or 20 years of their career to the company.

The long service awards handover took place in Carlisle, where employees from different departments gathered to celebrate their achievements and commitment to the company

The 10-year service awards were presented to four employees, while another four employees received the prestigious 20-year service award. The awardees met with Graham Jenkins, our managing director and he handed out vouchers as a token of the company’s gratitude.

Later Graham met with Alan Farish who is a driver and missed the original group together. Alan is celebrating 10 years’ service.

It has just been announced that we’re a finalist in the North West Family Business Awards 2023!

We’ve been nominated in the following categories:

Food and Drink Producer – Large

Wholesaler

Haulage & Logistics

People’s Choice Cumbria

This first-class event will be held at The Concorde Conference Centre, near Manchester Airport.

Co-hosted by Dave Clarkson and Sue Howorth of The Family Business Community, alongside renowned food and drink writer, and presenter Nigel Barden, and will take place on Friday 19^th May 2023.

Graham Jenkins, our managing director, says:

“We’re both honoured and excited to part of […]

A successful working partnership

with Orian Solutions

Orian Solutions is a facilities management company and they offer bespoke school meal catering services for both primary and secondary schools across the north west and north east of England.

We are proud to be Orian Solution’s chosen single supplier for all food produce to their school customer base in Cumbria and the North East. We supply and deliver a wide range of meat, frozen and ambient products alongside fresh fruit and vegetables to their school clients on a daily basis. We have worked together for over six years now and the relationship is going from strength-to-strength.