£4.5m invested in pie factory
PUKKA LOOKING TO INCREASE CAPACITY AT ITS COUNTY BASE
PUKKA Pies is investing £4.5 million in its Leicestershire factory to grow capacity and boost sales as the country comes out of lockdown.
The business said it was continuing to spend money on its Syston plant and on marketing campaigns – on the back of £4.5 million investment over the previous two years – despite latest results showing the impact of the pandemic on sales.
Pukka said turnover for the year to May 25 last year – the latest official figures – was marginally up on the previous 12 months, at £53.1 million.
Sales, it said, would have been better were it not for the first lockdown which had impacted on demand for its pies from the catering sector, including pubs, restaurants and football stadia.
Pre-tax profits were up 13.5 per cent at £4.1 million, however.
The business, which employs 377 people in Leicestershire, was started by husband and wife Trevor and Valerie Storer almost 60 years ago.
Still owned by the Storer family, it has grown into a national brand.
It typically bakes about 180,000 pies, sausage rolls and pastries every day and in normal times supplies more than 35 million pies a year to fish and chip shops and football groups – including Leicester City.
There has been an ongoing campaign to build on the 25 million-plus pies which go into the nation’s shops and supermarkets each year.
During the year, the business donated 90,195 pies, pasties and sausage rolls through the Fare Share network and 1,992 pies to Open Hands, which provides weekly hot meals to those in need in Leicester.
Pukka chief executive Deborah
Ewan said: “The year to May 2020 saw some great milestones for the business, including our biggest ever investment in marketing with our The People’s Pie campaign, the launches of an innovative vegan range, a new sharing range designed Just for Two and winning the ultimate food brand accolade The Grocer Brand of the Year.
“Despite the challenges we have all faced since March last year, our business remains in good health which is why we are pleased to be able to announce this continued investment in our business at this time.
“Our sales in retail have continued to rise over the past year while sales in food service have reflected the difficulties our customers in this sector have had over this same period – we continue to support our food service sector.
“Our announcement of continued investment in the Syston Bakery will further reinforce Pukka’s position as a key employer in the region.
“Despite all the turmoil in the market, our ambition hasn’t changed.
“We want to put more pies on more plates more often and that means a significant investment to ensure we are enhancing the capability and capacity of our bakery.
“We’re a family-run business that started making and baking pies in 1963 and we are still looking for ways to innovate and improve our business.
“We have exciting plans for 2021 and are confident Pukka will continue to grow for many years to come.”