Northumberland bakery Border Homebake is aiming to treble production after it invested over £20k in its tray bakes business.
The bakery has taken on extra staff after investing £11,000 of its own money which was then match-funded by the Rural Development Programme for England, run by One North East. The funding has been used to upgrade equipment at its premises at Hadrian Business Park in Haltwhistle.
The bakery has boosted its capacity with the addition of a four-deck oven, which will enable the baking of different batches of cakes simultaneously. A new flow wrapper has also been installed. Originally situated in a converted dairy, the business moved to its current location in 2004.
“Thanks to the new premises and equipment we can treble production,” said founder Justine Carruthers. “It’s given us the opportunity to go out and identify new markets reaching further afield.”
She said the business had got to the point where it couldn’t take on any new business, but that it was now actively sourcing it, and following up new leads and enquiries.
Border Homebake makes 12 core products including flapjacks, caramel shortcake, brownies and rocky road, plus 27 speciality tray bakes.
It currently supplies more than 120 tray bakes a week to customers including the National Trust, English Heritage and Northumberland National Park. It also supplies farm shops and speciality delis across the UK.
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