A food manufacturer is expanding and creating jobs with support from a government grant after winning a new contract from Iceland Stores.
Laila’s Fine Foods is a family run firm that produces and supplies a range of eastern and western ready meals to supermarkets such as Asda, Morrisons, Lidl and various food service businesses such as Mecca Bingo and the Spirit Group.
The company recently won a contract to supply 5 new frozen food lines to Iceland.
To meet the new demand the business is expanding and has purchased new production machinery. Laila’s Fine Foods was able to access a £58,000 grant through Regenerate Pennine Lancashire which contributed towards the full cost of the project. The grant was supported by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund and approved by Blackpool Council.
The expansion will lead to the creation of at least 8 new jobs at the company, which currently employs 250 people and has an annual turnover of around £18m.
Laila Remtulla, Managing Director of Laila’s Fine Foods said: “The new Iceland deal means we can take on more staff, and the expansion will also help us bid for additional contracts for future growth. We were able to use the grant from Regenerate to speed up the project so we could start producing new products faster.”
Peter Legg, Head of Economic Development at Blackpool Council, said:
“Laila’s Fine Foods has demonstrated rapid growth over the last few years and we fully supported their application for Regenerate’s grant. Opening up their production capacity can only increase the firm’s potential to grow and create even more jobs.”
More information on available grants can be found at growthlancs.wpengine.com
