Frozen food firm blazes recovery trail

North Tyneside, UK – North East food manufacturer Longbenton Foods is creating 314 jobs as it continues a multi-million pound recovery. The former Findus factory at Longbenton was forced to lay off its entire 420-strong workforce after a fire almost destroyed the plant early last year.

The company has now emerged from the ashes with the help of two grants totalling £3.4m from regional development agency One North East, and a short-term loan from North Tyneside Council.

One North East has pledged a further £1.4m Grant for Business Investment towards redeveloping Hall 4, the crispy pancake hall, which was the area most badly damaged by the fire. Once operational, the hall will accommodate up to 134 new jobs.

This builds on the £2m worth of support pledged by One North East in 2009 to bring Halls 1-3 back into operation, which will create 180 jobs. This will take the total investment into the plant by the company and public sector partners to £13.7million.

Managing director Vidar Engen said: “What was a fire-damaged site at Longbenton with a doomed future has now been cleaned up, machinery reinstated, and we are producing food again that will be stocked on the shelves in UK supermarkets.

“It has been a pleasure to watch products going through our production lines recently and to see smiling faces on the shop floor. We are operating in a competitive industry in a generally tough business environment, but thanks to the great public support we now have a positive outlook on growing the business and employ more people over the next months.”

The One North East grant helped support the reinstallation and repair of on-site machinery, production of frozen foods began again in September, according to Pete Cocker, business finance senior specialist at One North East

“Working together with the company and North Tyneside Council we have been able to the former Findus plant turn the tide on what was a terrible time for the company and its workers to give the factory a whole new lease of life, said Cocker. “With this new round of funding the company can now look to bring back crispy pancakes to its product range and with it hundreds of valuable new jobs for North Tyneside.”