Food-to-go supplier Tiffin Sandwiches is aiming to double its capacity with a new 50,000 sq ft factory in Bradford, which is set to create 400 new jobs for the local community.
The project is estimated to cost a total of between £8m and £10m including around £5m on new equipment. Land for the site has already been purchased for £2.5m and is located next to the firm’s existing factory on Commondale Way, near the M606. The space is currently used as a lorry park.
Tiffin also runs a facility in Chester, with all three production sites to remain in operation to support new business wins across healthcare, education, and travel sectors.
“We are very excited by the opportunity to build a brand-new bespoke factory at our Bradford site,” commented operations manager Luke Tetley, noting that construction would be completed by the end of the year with another 12 to 18 months needed to get it fully up to speed.
“As a Bradford based company, we are proud of our roots and hope to continue having a positive impact on the Bradford economy,” Tetley added.
Tiffin’s range of on-the-go offerings include filled sandwiches, wraps, ciabatas, and paninis, as well as toasties, Croque Monsieurs, pies, pasties, pizza twists, cake slices, flapjacks, and tiffin, with some vegan and gluten-free options. The company does not bake products itself, confirmed Tetley, without disclosing suppliers.
A new addition is a range of Wildfarmed tin bread sandwiches, which have been made with 100% Wildfarmed flour sourced from regenerative farms.
In operation for over 20 years, the company describes itself as the UK’s largest independent national food-to-go manufacturer and distributor. It supplies more than 1,000 different businesses in 4,000 locations including the likes of schools, colleges, universities, hotels, libraries, and travel outlets, among others.
Along with its main site and head office in Bradford, Tiffin runs four other distribution hubs in Chester, Milton Keynes, Glasgow, and Bristol. It has a growing fleet of over 150 company-owned vehicles, and workforce totalling 600 employees.
In accounts recently filed to Companies House for the year ended 31 May 2024, Tiffin reported turnover of £42.8m, its fifth successive year of sales growth. This marked an increase of almost a third (30%) on the £36m from the previous term, which was said to be driven by new product launches throughout the year culminating in a full retail range rebrand back in May. Operating profit rose by 22% to reach £3.4m in FY24.
Tiffin is also pushing to become more environmentally friendly with a lower carbon footprint for its new factory through the installation of solar panels and use of renewable energy systems. The company has a stated ambition of achieving net zero on purchased energy by 2028, as well as a move to a fully electric or hydrogen powered fleet by 2033.
Bradford is also home to another manufacturer’s expansion this year, with Regal Foods purchasing a 45,000 sq ft warehouse space in the city in June. The business followed this up just a month later with the acquisition of Love Cheesecakes.
The return of UK workers to offices since the pandemic has supported steady growth of the food-to-go market – a recent estimate from an industry analyst had it increasing 40% by 2028 compared to 2019 levels.
Accordingly, convenience food giants Greencore and Samworth Brothers have both reported encouraging results of late. Greencore’s Q3 sales across its food-to-go categories climbed 2.4% on a like-for-like basis, with overall revenue hitting £465.2m. Samworth Brothers, meanwhile, published its annual review for 2023, which included that sales had grown by £180m year-on-year to £1.6bn.
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