Porridge oat bar firm opens factory in expansion drive

PORRIDGE oat bar maker Stoats has opened a factory in Loanhead, south of Edinburgh, as it gears up for expansion,

The company, which produces more than nine million porridge oat bars per year and aims to increase this output to meet growing consumer demand, said it was on track to achieve annual turnover of £10 million by 2020.

Stoats declared that it had, in the past year, secured numerous new listings across the UK, including supply deals with supermarket chains Tesco, Waitrose, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s as well as wholesalers Bidfood and Brakes.

Stoats said the new 22,000 sq ft facility at Bilston Glen Industrial Estate in Loanhead would become the new headquarters for 40 staff, initially across bakery, sales, marketing and operations functions.

The company’s product range also includes flavoured quick porridge pots, porridge sachets, mueslis, and oatcakes.

Stoats managing director Tony Stone said: “We have come a long way since I began baking porridge bars in our family kitchen over 12 years ago. We’re really thrilled to be opening our own factory, where we can invest more in developing new products in both existing and new categories, as well as own-label products.

“The new factory gives us the opportunity to realise our ambitious plans, including increasing distribution across the UK and internationally. We can be more agile in our approach and we’re better placed to meet the demands of retailers and consumers.”

Stoats said it had seen double-digit-percentage growth in export sales year-onyear. It now exports to 12 overseas markets including the US and Benelux and Middle Eastern countries.

It added that it was “seeing growing success in these export markets”.

Stoats, which is focused on delivering 100 per cent natural products using premium Scottish oats, is an independent company owned and operated by Mr Stone and director Bob Arnott. The business partners, who are both from Edinburgh, established the company in 2005.

Other retailers that stock Stoats’ products include Asda, Aldi, Lidl, Co-op, Dobbies and Wholefoods. WOOD Group expects to complete the bumper £2.2 billion takeover of Amec Foster Wheeler next month after successful moves to ease regulators’ fears about the impact of the deal on the North Sea oil services market.

The Competition and Markets Authority said a proposal by Amec Foster Wheeler to sell the bulk of its North Sea operations would address the concerns it had expressed about the takeover. It thinks the sale of the assets should ensure customers in the North Sea can still get competitive bids for services.

The announcement removes the last obstacle in the way of Aberdeenbased Wood completing the recommended takeover of Amec Foster Wheeler, which it expects will create a global engineering powerhouse.

The deal will allow Wood to reduce its reliance on the North Sea, where oil and gas companies have slashed spending in response to the crude price plunge since 2014.

The takeover of Londonbased Amec Foster Wheeler is expected to lead to around 1,200 job losses globally.

Wood’s chief executive Robin Watson said it is very confident of completing the takeover in October.

Amec Foster Wheeler said it had made significant progress marketing its UK upstream oil and gas business to a range of high quality bidders.