After a fire destroyed its Inchinnan-based premises in Renfrewshire in September last year, Scottish retail and wholesale bakery Aulds faced a major challenge.

The original plant had provided frozen desserts to a range of leading foodservice companies, as well as snack products to high-profile supermarket groups, such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s. And with Christmas approaching – traditionally the busiest period for frozen desserts – the company needed to find a way of building up sufficient stocks to meet customer demand.

The company, which also has 44 retail shops supplied by a separate bakery in nearby Greenock, rapidly decided to construct a new semi-permanent facility. It awarded the building contract to temporary structure supplier De Boer. Following initial design and preparation work, it took less than five weeks from the first section of flooring to be laid until the facility was completed and all the necessary equipment sourced. The 210 Aulds staff returned to their new factory on November 14 and production started immediately.

Within six weeks of the production line rolling again, EFSIS inspectors had carried out an audit of the temporary facility and awarded it an ‘A-Rated’ accreditation certificate – the highest possible. EFSIS auditors complimented Aulds on how much had been achieved since the fire and commended the high standards of the 2,250sq m facility. The plant features full air conditioning, temperature control, risk separation and full development kitchen and high-tech laboratory facilities.

Having been without a factory for eight weeks, the run-up to Christmas proved challenging. But thanks to the hard work of staff and the support of suppliers and customers, Aulds was able to satisfy and retain its existing customer base and attain new business. Aulds production director Donald Burt says: “It is a great testament to our staff that not only did we get back into production so quickly but also received this award from EFSIS.”

Aulds is now planning to build a new state-of-the-art permanent factory which it says will match the company’s ambitious strategy for growth in both UK and export markets.