News

Expertise helps farming business expand dairy production with expansion of packaging and refrigeration space

CambridgeHOK is delighted to be supporting an award-winning East Yorkshire farm continue its growth with the expansion of its dairy milk products business.

St Helen’s Farm, at Seaton Ross, is the UK’s largest goat milk producer, with products including fresh milk, yoghurts, cheese, and butter.

Founded in 1986, the business has grown to supply major supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Morrisons, with its products consistently being recognised at food industry awards.

Now, the business is investing in further expansion to house a new innovative cow’s milk product called SuperNutrio, with the CambridgeHOK construction team building a new 875sq/m extension to provide additional packaging and refrigeration space at the front of the production site, as well as two new raised loading bays.

Work started on site in March, with the main external structure now in place, and the project is expected to be completed by the end of the month.

Expansion planned with no disruption to business

Steve Swallow, construction manager at CambridgeHOK, said: “This is quite a significant site expansion for this business and we were delighted to be selected for the project.

“Given our own expertise in the development of food production facilities, we have the knowledge and understanding of how businesses like this need to operate, and how a building needs to work logistically in terms of product movement, storage and distribution.

“Whilst the actual building of the structure itself is quite straight-forward for a team of our experience, there has needed to be a great deal of planning given we are working on live, operational food production site.

“That of course brings extra requirements in terms of protecting product quality, and of course the safety of people working on site, and visiting for deliveries and collections.

“Also, as we are expanding the current facility, the project has involved removing the external wall of the current packaging and refrigeration areas to adjoin to the new extension, and of course that is something which brings its own challenges. It is essential to work closely with the client to ensure minimum disruption.

“When complete the business will have significantly larger production to accommodate their new SuperNutrio brand, storage and cooling areas, and better access for customers through the two new loading bays, helping it to grow what is already a very impressive operation and successful business.”

Bill Randles, Managing Director at St Helen’s Farm said: “This is an important expansion for our business and when we were selecting the company to work with, CambridgeHOK were the standout choice given their experience and expertise, and the great track record they have in building first class facilities for those working in food production.”

Firm experienced in steel framed constructions.

CambridgeHOK has execution class 3 CE marking for all its steel framed buildings, whether they are small, large or complex, including commercial glasshouses, research glasshouses, agricultural farm buildings, bio-mass sheds, boiler houses or garden centres. The CE mark is externally assessed every year by an independent body to ensure ongoing compliance with the required standards.

A family run business, the goats’ milk at St Helens Farm is chilled to 2°C within just 5 minutes of milking, and packed daily, ensuring it is as fresh as possible when reaching supermarket shelves. The new SuperNutrio High protein cow’s milk will also be produced, packed and distributed from the site.

The business has won repeated national and international food industry accolades in recent years.

Back to news