27 February 2016

A Little Expansion - Our New Unit

It's still early on, but in January - after many twists and turns - we managed to take on an extra unit at Barker Business Park, just outside of Ripon.  Unit 11 is just across the close from our current unit at 6 Hallikeld Close, which we are keeping.

But it’s been empty for years – pretty much as long as we have been here - so that's at least 7 or 8 years.  So there are lots of things to do to get it up and running.

Today, for example, the electricians (Niddside Electrical) have been in checking the wiring for the building certificate and the safety of the heating systems – it’s really cold as it’s not been used for ages.  Yesterday, the fire alarm system was looked at and extinguishers installed by H. E. Woolley, plus Calverts Carpets came out to measure two of the rooms that are being kitted out with new flooring – one a meeting room (we’ve never had one) and the other for a kitchen studio or test kitchen.

The idea is simple – teas and herbal teas will move over to the new unit with new tea packing machinery being made and then installed.  Picking and packing will eventually move over there, maybe later this year.

But most excitingly, we’ll have a meeting room and a kitchen for recipe development, photography and video.  The first phase should be completed by end March, with the refitting work for teas and picking and packing taking somewhat longer, as we have structural engineers doing their thing and new water and drainage to install to make it food grade.

We’ll keep you updated with progress here via the blog, but for now here are some pictures of what it looks like now.

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