the shropshire food enterprise centre – a recipe for success The new £7 million Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre is already establishing itself as a centre of excellence for food and drink in the West Midlands in the hands of HEART of ENGLAND fine foods (HEFF). Article continues below...

major new food and drink venture
The Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre is based at Battlefield Enterprise Park, Shrewsbury, and is managed by HEFF on behalf of its owners Shropshire Council with funding from Advantage West Midlands. It offers a range of services to food and drink producers as well as conference and meeting facilities available to all companies across the West Midlands region.

The food and drink sector is an important part of the regional economy, with some 6,000 companies employing 40,000 staff and turning over £7 billion a year. Improve, the food and drink sector skills council, has forecast a regional industry growth rate of 2.5 per cent a year over the next five years (higher than the national average) so it could not be a better time for this exciting new development.

Karen Davies, Chief Executive of HEFF, said: "We are delighted to be at the heart of this major new food and drink venture and are looking forward to creating a business hub and centre of excellence for the food and drink industry across the West Midlands.

"Our aim is to make this the leading centre of its kind in the country and I would urge food and drink producers to get in touch to learn how we can support them in growing and developing their business to compete in the regional, national and global marketplace.”

Food & Drink Production Units
The centre is the first of its kind in the West Midlands housing 12 purpose built units for regional start-up and growing food and drink businesses specifically designed to meet the latest food industry standards. This is a big bonus for tenants who will avoid the cost of getting their production facility up to the correct level.

Producers moving into the units can take advantage of the Enterprise Centre for administrative needs as well as having help and advice on hand from HEFF staff.

Andrew Wardle, Centre Manager, Emma Cardwell of The Flavoured Butter Company and Ian Tay of Love Champagne.

The Flavoured Butter Company and Love Champagne are the first food and drink producers to move into the production units at the Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre. The Flavoured Butter Company is owned by Emma Cardwell who has now moved production from Corwen, Denbighshire, to the Food Enterprise Centre. The business has been running for two years and Emma sources her butter from Shropshire dairies and then whips it, adds the flavours and moulds and wraps the butter by hand. She produces eight flavours including red chilli, cracked black pepper and garlic, dill, lemon and caper and basil, parsley and chive. Emma said: “The facility is outstanding. I was looking for somewhere bigger and better and somewhere set up for food production. The units are fantastic for growing businesses, this is the next stage up for me and I decided that if I was going to continue with the business I had to take it up a notch and that’s why I’m here. “The units are up to a very high standard and are modern, efficient and environmentally friendly and exceed all my expections. For me, the best thing is that they all have walk-in fridges which would have cost me thousands to install myself and I’ve also now got the support of HEFF which is a big bonus.” Love Champagne is owned by Ian Tay and is an online retailer and distributor of champagne and regional English wines. They also provide outside catering and attend events and shows. The business was previously based at the Market Hall in Shrewsbury and in premises on College Hill. Ian said: “The Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre is a high quality, purpose built facility in a great location and we’re really looking forward to doing business on a business park. “Moving here means we can conduct all aspects of our business from under one roof and we will also benefit from the solid support management of HEFF. We’re looking forward to building relationships with regional drinks producers and creating different opportunities.”

Meeting & Conference Facilities
The Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre boasts first class meeting, training and event facilities that are available to hire by any business or commerical organisation. The evironmentally friendly building offers purpose built conference facilities for up to 60 people and a ‘boardroom’ style meeting room with seating for ten. Room hire comes complete with wi-fi, office services and quality regional food and drink refreshments. Being just off the A5 from the M54 makes the centre a perfect place to meet in the West Midlands.

The Taste Kitchen
The newly installed Taste Kitchen will be used to showcase food and drink products to potential buyers, run consumer focus groups and undertake product development; this activity will be supported by their newly appointed chef Ed Warren who will also be hosting a programme of regional food and drink demonstrations.

The kitchen, which has been fitted out to a very high specification and meets industrial standards, is available for hire by food entrepreneurs who would like to test out their recipes before launching a product onto the market. The kitchen is also available, outside the centre's normal business hours, for hire by small catering companies looking for additional space.

Food and drink businesses are encouraged to drop into the centre to find out more about how HEFF can help promote and support businesses.

Heart of England fine foods is the regional food group for the West Midlands and was formed in 1998 to promote and raise awareness of food and drink within the region.

Through an extensive programme, the organisation helps the region’s food and drink businesses to develop and create profitable and sustainable markets for their products.

There are production units available so for more information or a tour of the facilities contact Centre Manager Andrew Wardle on 01743 452810.

For more information about Heart of England fine foods call 01743 452818 or visit www.heff.co.uk

Click here to read more about the HEFF Diamond Awards 2010