Around Noon, M&S

Source: Around Noon

Left to right: Philip Morgan, sales director, Around Noon; Archie Norman, chairman of Marks & Spencer; Eddie Murphy, trading director, Marks & Spencer, island of Ireland

Around Noon has secured a new contract to supply sandwiches from its Twelve Handmade in County Down range to Marks & Spencer stores across the island of Ireland.

The deal is estimated to be worth £3.5m in retail sales according to the food-to-go manufacturer, whose Twelve sandwiches are produced in County Down using ingredients from across Ireland.

The varieties on sale in M&S include Chicken & Handmade Irish Stuffing, Chicken & Bacon on Irish Malted Bread, Baked Irish Ham & Cheddar, BLT with Ballymaloe Relish, Chicken & Ham Club, and a Chicken Caesar Wrap.

“We proposed supporting M&S’s current offering with products produced on the island of Ireland, made with Irish ingredients,” said Philip Morgan, Around Noon sales director. “We developed a small range of products that would exhibit provenance – as an example the bread and the chicken are produced on the island of Ireland.

“M&S have stores across the island and the ingredients come from both the north and south of Ireland as well. This is ever-more important for the M&S consumer here,” Morgan added. “Our Twelve Handmade in County Down range has had a very successful resonance with the M&S shopper.”

Eddie Murphy, trading director for Marks & Spencer, island of Ireland, said working with Around Noon was helping the retailer to strengthen its supply chain and provide “really high-quality products” for its customers across the island. “We are extremely impressed by the quality and provenance of the ingredients that Around Noon sources and by the quality of service they provide,” Murphy added.

Around Noon has been in business for more 30 years and employs around 400 people. It supplies a range of chilled, hot, frozen and bakery products to customers including forecourt, convenience, retail and café chains throughout the UK and Ireland.