Laila’s Fine Foods, a Blackpool, Lancashire, England-based maker of frozen ready meals, received a £58,000 government grant to expand operations and hire new personnel after winning a contract to supply five new products to the Iceland frozen food chain in the United Kingdom.
Laila’s is a family run firm that for the past three decades has produced a wide assortment of Asian- and Western-style frozen foods, ranging from Indian and Italian to Far Eastern and South American dishes, to traditional English fare. Its list of customers encompasses supermarket chains such Asda Stores, Morrisons and Lidl, as well as foodservice operators including Mecca Bingo and the Spirit Group.
Meeting increased demand in business from Iceland and other customers has required further capital investment to purchase equipment and expand the workforce. That’s where Regenerate Pennine Lancashire came in, as the economic development organization arranged financing for the full cost of the project through a grant supported by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund and approved by Blackpool Council.
The expansion will lead to the creation of at least eight new jobs at the company’s factory, which currently employs 250 people and has generated turnover of around £18 million per annum in recent years.
Laila Remtulla, managing director of Laila’s Fine Foods, commented: “The new Iceland deal means we can take on more staff, and the expansion will also help us bid for additional contracts for future growth. We were able to use the grant from Regenerate to speed up the project so we could start producing new products faster.”
Peter Legg, head of economic development at Blackpool Council, said: “Laila’s Fine Foods has demonstrated rapid growth over the last few years, and we fully supported their application for Regenerate’s grant. Opening up their production capacity can only increase the firm’s potential to grow and create even more jobs.”
