Chichester Observer

Working for Natures Way from (almost) the very beginning

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Gary Kilhams, head of projects – operations, at Natures Way, shares his story of 24 years in the business.

He started as a factory supervisor in 1995, and was employee number six.

He’s since managed all four factories, worked in training and developmen­t and now looks after substantia­l factory projects.

“I started in 1995, when the business was just one year old,” Mr Kilhams said. “When I started we were only supplying Tesco and Portsea Island Co-op. In the first year we made one million units, now north of 200 million.

“We were in a corner of David Langmead’s pack house in Runcton. Robert had converted a corner of David’s pack house. We had two production lines and shared some office space.

“Within a year, we had commission­ed the building it’s of the Selsey site. I remember Robert saying that this will see us good for three to four years, but we had outgrown within 18 months.”

He shared some of his stories over the years as the business grew to what it is today.

“One of the milestones for the business was when we expanded Runcton on the basis of doing business for the first time with Morrisons. The project was called Project Pinstripe, as when Ken Morrison went to the city to complete the purchase of Safeway he bought his only pinstripe suit and then threw it away! He was a farmer.”

Ken Morrison wanted a supplier who would grow with them.

“We said if you need it we will build a new factory,” Mr Kilhams said. “And we did. That took Runcton to its current form. Then we built Merston in the 2000s.”

Another big project was when Tesco called needing a new coleslaw supplier.

“We were restructur­ing some areas in Selsey. We thought well we’ll turn it into a coleslaw factory. We did it in 20 weeks, which in the food production business is very fast.”

He explained when the project manager from Tesco came down to inspect the new factory, on the first day of production there was a power cut.

“We sat in the dark drinking coffee until the power came back on!”

On the most rewarding parts of his job, Mr Kilhams said: “It’s about people developmen­t for me. There’s been three or four employees that I am quite proud of, who worked with me for a number of years and came up through the ranks. They are now in similar positions in this business or other food production companies. That is always a nice thing.”

The company also puts a lot of work into education and reaching out to the community.

Mr Kilhams explained: “We have always done a lot around schools, going in and giving talks, or GCSE students coming to the factory.

“We were actually involved in funding the floodlight­s at Selsey Football Club so they could keep their league status.”

So what’s next for Natures Way?

The Langmeads have always seen the company as a ‘transgener­ational’ business.

“Going forward the vision is to be the leading produce supplier in the UK,” Mr Kilhams said.

“We are the biggest, but we want to be the best in quality, value and service. Robert’s vision was to put a meal on every table once a week. It is a business that has grown exponentia­lly.

“If I did not believe in what they were doing, I wouldn’t still be here.” Robert and David Langmead

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