Food manufacturer Around Noon to create 200 jobs at newly-acquired site in England

The company, which recently bought Soho Sandwich Company in North London, is opening the premises at Slough Industrial Estate.

Around Noon, which is led by chief executive Gareth Chambers, has reported strong growth, including winning major contracts in travel, foodservice and coffee.

The business, which is based in Newry, has a major contract to supply sandwiches to Marks & Spencer stores on both sides of the border

It has now acquired a 30,000 sq ft factory at Slough Industrial Estate, its sixth manufacturing facility, to enable it to expand further. Most of the 200 jobs will be based at the new Slough site.

Alongside the increase in factory capacity, the company will also bring its total headcount across the group to more than 1,000, with the 200 new jobs being created. In total, around 300 of the 1,000 people will be based in Slough.

Gareth Chambers, CEO of Around Noon, said: “We have grown our run rate at Around Noon in Slough from £4m per annum in 2018 to around £30m per annum today.

“We now manufacture over 400,000 products per week at the existing Slough factory and we are really pleased to have secured additional premises at Slough Trading Estate to support our ongoing growth.”

Slough Trading Estate is also home to Mars, Ferrari, DHL, Lanes Group and UCB.

James Craddock, managing director Thames Valley at industrial property giant SEGRO, which owns the estate, said:

“This is a wonderful example of how the quality and management of our workspace combined with our flexibility and understanding of our customers’ property needs has enabled us to retain and grow our diverse customer base on the Slough Trading Estate.

“Around Noon is a strong, growing business and we’re very pleased to have been able to accommodate them in this upgraded facility and enable their business growth, particularly at a time when the vacancy rate at Slough Trading Estate remains very low at 2.7%.”

The new facility is undergoing a major renovation in line with the developer’s ‘Responsible SEGRO’ commitment to champion low-carbon growth.

Around Noon manufactures sandwiches, salads, wraps and fruit pots for airlines, coffee chains and caterers. This new factory will allow the company to increase its manufacturing capacity in Slough alone by circa £50m.

The group has grown into one of the major food to go companies in the UK since it was founded in Newry over 30 years ago.

It now has facilities in Newry, Slough and North London and employs over 800 people.

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