The Grown Up Chocolate Company is opening a second manufacturing site, just one year after it started trading.

The luxury chocolate specialist is operating 7am to 11pm shifts six days a week at its Enfield base to keep up with demand, ahead of the new site, in Harlow, Essex, becoming operational this autumn.

Over the past year, the company has won listings in 300 stores in the UK, including Fortnum & Mason and National Trust gift shops. The company has also just secured its biggest listing yet, in Booths.

It has also met with considerable success abroad - winning business in America, Switzerland and Japan.

Founder James Ecclestone, who also runs Casemir Chocolates from Enfield, which makes fresh cream chocolate for the hospitality trade, said he expected sales to grow from £200,000 this year to £800,000 in the second year of trading.

“People are willing to pay a premium for high-quality chocolate and there is kudos around UK-made products both here and abroad,” he said.

The company’s chocolate bars, which aim to recreate the confectionery of people’s childhoods with a luxury twist, sell for £1.49.

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