Upmarket pie maker Higgidy has seen its turnover rocket by 45% over the past year and is eyeing new manufacturing sites as it looks to double capacity.
Sales growth for the West Sussex company totalled £8.1m for the year to 30 September up from £5.6m for the previous year and it is forecasting £10.7m of sales for its next financial year. According to Nielsen figures [52 w/e2 October 2010], Higgidy's brand value has also increased by 53.5% to £6.4m.
The company had grown rapidly through innovation and spotting gaps in the market, said Higgidy commercial director Mark Campbell, adding that its October tie-up with Boots for a range of small quiches had captured a share of the lunchtime market and would boost business by about £750,000 annually.
A £750,000 investment in a neighbouring facility had doubled capacity in the past year and Higgidy was considering additional buildings to allow it to raise annual capacity to £30m, said Campbell.
The company hoped to fund expansion through bank agreements but stressed plans would not be implemented before March 2012. "We want to postpone the decision for a little bit to see if we can keep up what we've been doing into the first half of 2011," said Campbell.
Unsurprisingly, Higgidy's rapid growth has singled it out as a target amongst private equity investors, but Campbell said there was "more gas left in the tank" under current ownership.
"We are flattered people might be talking about us in this way but this is not something we are currently considering," he said.
Sales growth for the West Sussex company totalled £8.1m for the year to 30 September up from £5.6m for the previous year and it is forecasting £10.7m of sales for its next financial year. According to Nielsen figures [52 w/e2 October 2010], Higgidy's brand value has also increased by 53.5% to £6.4m.
The company had grown rapidly through innovation and spotting gaps in the market, said Higgidy commercial director Mark Campbell, adding that its October tie-up with Boots for a range of small quiches had captured a share of the lunchtime market and would boost business by about £750,000 annually.
A £750,000 investment in a neighbouring facility had doubled capacity in the past year and Higgidy was considering additional buildings to allow it to raise annual capacity to £30m, said Campbell.
The company hoped to fund expansion through bank agreements but stressed plans would not be implemented before March 2012. "We want to postpone the decision for a little bit to see if we can keep up what we've been doing into the first half of 2011," said Campbell.
Unsurprisingly, Higgidy's rapid growth has singled it out as a target amongst private equity investors, but Campbell said there was "more gas left in the tank" under current ownership.
"We are flattered people might be talking about us in this way but this is not something we are currently considering," he said.
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