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Northumbrian Fine Foods creates 50 jobs to support growth
Northumbrian Fine Foods has created more than 50 new permanent vacancies at its Gateshead factory, following a year of significant growth for the biscuit maker.
Northumbrian Fine Foods has been producing biscuits for more than 80 years from its bakery in the Team Valley and is the UK’s largest gluten-free and milk-free sweet biscuit manufacturer, making both supermarket own-label and Prewett’s branded products.
Growth has been driven by the company’s strong performance within the gluten-free biscuit and cookies category, as well as the strengthening of its co-manufacturing business, now producing on behalf of some of the nation’s best-known brands, all of which has led to sales turnover twice doubling between 2014 and 2021.
Biscuit manufacturer Northumbrian Fine Foods has created more than 50 jobs following significant growth / Picture: Northumbrian Fine Foods
On top of the opportunity to grow its free-from business in the UK, since being purchased by Biscuit International in 2018, Northumbrian Fine Foods is now actively exporting free-from products across mainland Europe and worldwide. Biscuit International is one of the largest private label biscuit manufacturers in Europe, with manufacturing sites in France, Spain, Netherlands and Portugal.
Neil McAndry, managing director of Northumbrian Fine Foods, said: “NFF have outperformed the market increasing sales significantly vs. the same period last year and represent a strong driver of growth within the category. Driven by our role as a ‘centre of excellence’ in free-from production, we have enjoyed increasing demand for our products over the last few years. As a result of this growth, we have made the decision to expand our operating hours by 20%, creating over 50 new roles right here in the North East.
“We’ve continued to invest in our Gateshead manufacturing facilities and in the local team we employ, we are in the process of rolling out a best-in-class training & development programme for the operational workforce that will give everyone the chance to learn and progress within the business. It is really important that we look after our employees and ensure we provide everyone with the opportunity to develop and progress.
“We are an inclusive organisation and we would encourage anyone willing to work hard and be part of a growing and exciting team to apply for a role with us. We are keen to hear from individuals who want to develop themselves and those looking to continually build on their current skill set. The company’s growth is a direct result of the dedication and resilience of the Northumbrian Fine Foods workforce and we will continue to invest in our people as demand for our products increases.”
The roles, including bakery operations and office-based vacancies, are being created as the company responds to increasing demand for its free-from biscuits and cookies from major retailers including Morrison’s, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Tesco in the UK, and across Europe.
The business is particularly interested in talking to people with food manufacturing experience especially flow wrap operators, batch mixers and depositor/oven operators. In addition to several packing vacancies, they will also be recruiting more front-line supervisors.
Westray Recruitment Group will be responsible for the recruitment of the new roles.