Jason Jobling and Mark Norton Cornish Premier Pasties

Source: Cornish Premier Pasties

Jason Jobling, operations director, and Mark Norton, managing director, of Cornish Premier Pasties

Cornish Premier Pasties has said it is on track to reach £7m turnover in 2022 following 10 consecutive months of record sales.

The St Columb-based business has reported sales up 21% year-on-year, and up 55% since August 2020.

Having been acquired by managing director Mark Norton in 2020, and combined with sister business Prima Bakeries, Cornish Premier Pasties describes itself as the world’s fourth-largest manufacturer of Cornish pasties. It produces more than 40,000 savoury pastry products a day and supplies wholesalers, retailers and outlets across Cornwall and the UK. 

Norton said 2022 had been a year of ups and downs, with business owners facing challenges including the fallout from covid, difficulty in staff recruitment and substantial cost increases for raw materials. 

“Overcoming and adapting to the circumstances has become a fundamental part of our business, and seeing this work pay off in terms of sales figures, is incredibly rewarding.” he added.

Norton said the recruiting challenges being felt across industry meant it had never been more important to ensure staff were well rewarded and valued.

“The company does not work evening or weekend production shifts, recognising that a Monday to Friday shift pattern maximises work-life balance,” Norton explained. “By implementing strategies such as this, and listening to our teams’ needs, we have a great workforce that speaks volumes when we’re looking at this kind of sales growth.”

Employing more than 50 people, the company has recently focused on expanding outside of Cornwall through new distributors across the UK.

It hopes to grow by a further 15% to achieve an annual turnover of £8m next year, despite concerns of recession.

“To do this, we will continue to focus on ensuring we’re producing high-quality products, with competitive pricing and giving suppliers and customers the best level of service,” said Norton.