Scope for growth with organic vegetable boxes

Apr 22 2008 by Karen Dent, The Journal

A COUPLE made redundant when the electronics factory where they worked was closed are now growing their own business delivering organic vegetable boxes.

Chris Malcolm and Ann McLoskey have used their redundancy money from the closure of the Atmel semiconductor plant in North Tyneside to take on a River Swale Home Delivery franchise. They are responsible for an area stretching from Jarrow in South Tyneside to Easington Village, County Durham. The business has been running for just over a month and currently has two rounds – one covering Washington and Sunderland, and the other delivering to Gateshead, Hebburn and South Shields.

Chris, who is originally from Weardale but now lives in South Shields, said: “We were sick of going on the redundancy cycle. I wish we had done this years ago. I’m from a small village in County Durham and I come from a rural area so I’ve always had an interest in food and where it comes from.” The River Swale Home Delivery headquarters is a farm at Newby Wiske near Northallerton, North Yorkshire, where much of the seasonal organic food that goes into the boxes is grown. The boxes are packed at the farm and delivered by Chris and Ann to clients who place their orders online or by phone.

The couple drummed up business by going out into their franchise area, delivering leaflets and talking to potential customers. Chris said the message has been easy to get across because TV chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall had introduced organic food to a new audience. He said: “People have been very enthusiastic about what we are delivering. There is much more awareness of where food is coming from and people are more aware of what they are eating.”

Chris and Ann approached business advisors at Tedco for help in putting together a business plan. They also received a £2,000 start-up grant from South Tyneside Means Business to buy essential IT equipment.

They now plan to grow the business by adding further rounds across their franchise area.

“We want to cover the rest of the area south of where we are at the moment. We plan to roll out one area at a time,” said Chris.