EXCLUSIVE By Andy Nixon

Last updated 12:43, Thursday, 21 August 2008

A CARLISLE food company that started with two local businessmen trading from the back of a van is expanding, creating up to 100 new jobs.

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Extension: The Calder Foods Carlisle factory

Calder Foods Ltd is building a £2.5m extension to its Burgh Road Industrial Estate factory and has acquired a competitor’s business in a £3.6m deal that will help boost the Cumbrian jobs market.

The firm, which is one of the UK’s largest sandwich filling manufacturers, already employs more than 100 workers in Carlisle and at a distribution depot in Birmingham.

The acquisition of business from the Daniels Group, famous for its Covent Garden Soup Company brand, will see the firm’s sandwich filling business transferred to Carlisle.

To take on the extra business Calder Foods has invested £2.5m in a massive extension to their factory and is looking to as much as double their workforce over time.

The firm has also secured a £150,000 grant towards the work from the North West Development Agency (NWDA) aided by Cumbria Vision.

Calder Foods was started in 1991 by joint managing directors Paul Barker and Nigel Harrison who sold their cars to buy a van to sell-on sandwich fillings.

They started manufacturing their own fillings in 1997 from a small factory at Harraby Green Business Park in Carlisle.

They now manufacture sandwich fillings for major retailers including Harvey Nichols, O’Briens, Spar as well as supplying all of the secondary schools in Cumbria and schools and hospitals further afield.

“The acquisition of the business from Daniels Group is a major coup for Calder Foods and a real boost for Carlisle in general,” said Mr Barker.

“Daniels were looking for a partner to take over their sandwich filling business but they would still be working with their customers through other divisions of the company.

“That they chose us is a real vote of confidence in our workforce and our ethos. We’re very proud of the faith that the Daniels Group have shown in us.”

Sales director Mark Harrison said that the number of jobs at the firm’s Burgh Road site could double in the next 12 to 18 months.

He added: “We’re increasing our turnover by 36 per cent thanks to the acquisition on top of the existing growth in the company.

“From very humble beginnings we’re now one of the biggest manufacturers of sandwich ingredients in the country, in an industry that just continues to grow and grow and is worth £4.5bn a year nationally.”

The new contract has meant that Calder Foods are having to build a huge extension to their factory, including a state-of-the-art production line. The extension has been partially funded thanks to a £150,000 grant made possible by the NWDA and Cumbrian Vision.

Joint managing director Nigel Harrison praised the help of the two agencies, who have also funded extensive training for the firm’s workforce, and in particular NWDA business development manager Janice Whittington and Cumbria Vision’s Martyn Staveley.

“A lot of this wouldn’t have been possible without their efforts and we’re very grateful to them,” added Mr Harrison. “This is a major investment in Cumbria, not only in terms of the amount of money that’s coming to the county but also in the investment in the skills of our very loyal workforce.”

Calder Foods were determined to award the work contracts to Carlisle and Cumbrian businesses. The primary contractors were Story Construction, PK Electrical, PMS Fabrication, Clark Door, Quattro Flooring as well as numerous smaller contractors.

n Calder Foods make 220 different products including 11 different recipes for one of the top fillings, Coronation Chicken. They also manufacture salads, sauces, cooked meats and ready meals, concentrating particularly on the growing demand for nutritionally balanced health foods which are bought by schools and hospitals.

Their recipes are home grown, with suggestions coming in from staff.