Gluten-free pizza bases from Central Foods stretch 250 times higher than Tower of Pisa

Gluten free pizza bases supplied by Central Foods

As demand for gluten-free products soars, frozen food distributor Central Foods has revealed that if all the 12-inch gluten-free pizza bases it sold in the last year were laid end-to-end it would measure 250 times the height of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The Northamptonshire-based company, which supplies foodservice outlets across the UK and abroad, reports a growing demand for free-from, vegetarian and vegan items.

And with Coeliac Awareness Week 2017 approaching in May, the firm has been reviewing its most popular gluten-free items.

“Coeliac UK estimates that there are now over 1.3 million Britons or 3% of British adults following a gluten-free diet. In addition, 8.58 million, or 13%, are avoiding gluten in their diet, so it’s hardly surprising that we are seeing an increase in demand for gluten-free items from foodservice operators such as pubs, restaurants, hotels, coffee shops and other outlets,” said Gordon Lauder, MD of frozen food distributor Central Foods.

“We are proud to have been supplying the catering industry with frozen, ready-prepared, sweet and savoury gluten-free products since 2009, and to have worked with Coeliac UK to raise awareness about the issue in the industry.

“The gluten-free range that we offer is extensive, including meat products, pizza bases and wraps, cakes, slices and tarts, macarons and desserts. Demand has been growing across the gluten-free range, but it’s noticeable that the gluten-free pizza bases are particularly popular and we’ve sold the equivalent of 250 times the height of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, if we were to lay them end to end.

“While many foodservice operators already include gluten-free items that are suitable for coeliacs on their menus, Coeliac Awareness Week, from 8^th to 14^th May, is the chance for them to offer additional gluten-free items – perhaps as specials or extra dishes. It’s also the chance for operators to consider joining the Gluten Freevolution – a new campaign being launched by Coeliac UK.”

Central Foods, which is based at Collingtree near Northampton, supplies more than 220 independent wholesalers, as well as larger national and regional wholesalers. It also supplies to foodservice caterers across the entire foodservice industry, including pubs, hotels, restaurants, staff canteens, schools, hospitals, coffee shops, football grounds and universities.

Offering a one-stop shop to the foodservice sector, it sources products from around the world and the UK, supplying more than 400 different lines, ranging from meat, bakery items and canapés through to buffet products, desserts and puddings.

For more information visit www.centralfoods.co.uk

Press release issued by Nottingham based PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Focus Consultants stages charity golf day

Focus Consultant's Charity golf day 

Focus Consultants hosted the company’s annual charity golf day at the Belton Park Golf Club near Grantham in Lincolnshire - raising £180 for The Butterfly Trust, a local hospice based in Boston, Lincolnshire.

Attended by 16 different organisations, 18 players took part, with first prize being presented to Nick Piggott of the NatWest banking group who beat the rest of the field by 4 points. A number of prizes for achievements were also presented including longest drive and nearest the pin. In addition, a fundraising raffle was also held.

Focus partner Trevor Newton, who organised the annual tournament, said: “The charity Golf Day has become a regular event on the calendar for Focus Consultants and we are pleased that a number of clients and associates were able to join us and help us to raise money for Butterfly Trust – a deserving local good cause.”

Focus Consultants is based in Nottingham, with additional offices in Leicester, London and Boston, Lincolnshire.

It offers services to the property and construction industry, including building surveying, contract administration, party wall surveying, clerk of works, quantity surveying, project management, CDM services and BREEAM assessments, as well as energy calculations and modelling. 

The company also specialises in funding and economic development including area regeneration strategies, funding applications, economic impact appraisals, business plans, and research and evaluation. Since 1994 Focus has secured for clients more than £953 million of grants for projects and businesses across the UK and delivered more than £1.3 billion worth of projects and programmes – making it one of the most successful businesses of its kind in the country.

For more details about Focus Consultants, visit www.focus-consultants.co.uk  

Press release issued by Nottingham based PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Croots Farm Shop helps put Great British family businesses on the map

Steve and Kay Croot

Derbyshire farm shop Croots is hosting a visit from the Family Business Road Trip 2017.

On April 24^th, Family Business United begins its annual tour of some of the UK’s most successful family businesses with the launch of The Family Business Road Trip 2017 in the South West – with plans to visit Croots Farm Shop the following month.

The Family Business Road Trip is an innovative event that celebrates the essential contribution family firms make to national GDP and regional economies, and, as a family firm, Croots is delighted to be taking part in the event this year.

In the UK, the family business sector accounts for more than 4 million firms, £1.1 trillion in turnover (almost a quarter of UK GDP) and employs more than nine million people. In addition, the top 20 family owned firms in the UK generate turnover in excess of £49 billion.

Family firm Sturgess Jaguar is providing the car for the trip and the event is being sponsored by PwC, Farrer & Co, Western Pension Solutions and Close Brothers Asset Management. The Family Business Road Trip 2017 runs for six weeks covering Yorkshire to the Lake District and the Midlands to London, East Anglia, Sussex and a whole host of counties in between.

It will be popping into Croots Farm Shop at Farnah House Farm, Wirksworth Road, near Duffield, on Monday May 15^th.

Steve Croot, who runs the farm shop with wife Kay, said: “Croots Farm Shop is very much a family affair, based on the farm run by Kay’s parents and the place where she grew up. Our staff are part of that extended family, and we’ve even got my sister Val involved, as after her appearance on the Great British Bake Off TV programme last year, she’s launched a range of bakes at our farm shop here in Derbyshire.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming the Family Business Road Trip 2017 during May. It’s great that they recognise the value that family businesses bring to the economy.”

Over the six weeks, the tour will meet with families behind some of the UK’s most noteworthy businesses, including Wyke Farms, Thatchers Cider, Cotteswold Dairy, Heck Foods, Troy Foods, Arighi Bianchi and Hypnos Beds.

Penny Lovell, head of private client services at Close Brothers Asset Management, said: “Family businesses are a key driver of the economy and we look forward to meeting some of the UK’s most successful firms.”

Sian Steele, head of family business at PwC in the UK, added: “Events such as this enable us to see first-hand the real diversity of the family business sector and the great contribution they make to the local, national and international economy.”

Richard Lane, head of family business at Farrer & Co, added: “It is a real pleasure to meet family business owners in their own environments, to see the passion they have for what they do, and in many cases, have been doing for generations. It reinforces our understanding of the sector and is a real insight into the family business world.”

Paul Andrews, Founder and managing director of Family Business United, concluded: “Family firms are the very backbone of the UK economy, and we are excited to be meeting with some of the best known family businesses in the UK, as well as some lesser-known hidden gems. We want to celebrate the businesses that do so much for the country, by helping them to link up and share the knowledge and experience of other family businesses, as well as having access to advice from who are committed to helping family businesses shine. The Family Business Road Trip is a great way for us to champion the sector and to help put some great British family businesses on the map.”

More details are at www.familybusinessunited.com

All of the visits will be covered with pictures and quotes throughout the trip on social media. The Family Business Road Trip 2017 can be followed on twitter by using #FBRoadtrip2017.

Paul concluded: "This is the fourth year that we are undertaking the trip around the UK and we are undoubtedly going to meet some great businesses, some inspirational family business and their leaders and we are really looking forward to putting the family business sector on the map.”

Croots Farm Shop is open Monday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm (Shires Eatery until 4.30pm) and from 10am to 4pm on Sundays. Croots runs Fresh Fish Thursdays between 9am and 1pm on Thursdays.

For more information, visit www.croots.co.uk Find Croots on Twitter @crootsfarm_shop or on Facebook www.facebook.com/Croots-Farm-Shop

Press release issued by Nottingham based PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Residents treated by construction services firm J Tomlinson

J Tomlinson hands over cheque at Tom Eatough Court

Residents living in a retirement housing scheme in Leicestershire have been given a cash bonus by construction services firm J Tomlinson to give themselves a treat.

The company has recently replaced the plant room at Tom Eatough Court in Earl Shilton and decided to make a £500 donation to the residents of the sheltered housing development to spend on social activities.

“We’ve heard that the residents living at Tom Eatough Court do a lot of fund-raising for a range of good causes, so we thought it would be lovely for J Tomlinson to give them a treat, which they fully deserve,” said Dave Fisher, operations manager at J Tomlinson. “They were so welcoming to our team. Even though we undertook the work through the Christmas/Winter period and at times had to disrupt the heating and hot water, and we had workmen in and out, at no time did anyone complain, which made the works on site a pleasure to complete. We hope they enjoy the social activities that this donation will fund.”

Managed by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, Tom Eatough Court, on Ronald Toon Road, features 24 ground-floor flats. Within the complex there is a laundry room, guestroom, hairdressers, library, shower room and conservatory.

J Tomlinson recently installed a new modern plant room at the development to upgrade facilities.

Sharon Stacey, Director of Community Services at Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, said: “The work undertaken was to renew the communal heating boilers which are now controlled by a computerised ‘state of the art’ system, making them much more efficient. 

“We are really pleased with how J Tomlinson interacted with tenants during the upgrade and with the standard of the completed work. Tenants were delighted at the contribution J Tomlinson made to their residents’ fund and are looking forward to spending the £500 for the benefit of all tenants.”

J Tomlinson provides a range of integrated building services which include construction, mechanical and electrical services (M&E), facilities management, refurbishment, repairs and maintenance and regeneration. It primarily operates across the East Midlands, West Midlands and Yorkshire.

For more information about J Tomlinson, visit www.jtomlinson.co.uk

Press release issued by Nottingham-based PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Work begins on new community centre with Focus Consultants as project manager

New Community project in Lincolnshire with Focus

Work is now underway on building a new community centre in Lincolnshire village Mareham le Fen, which will replace a 100-year-old tin and timber hall.

Focus Consultants is project managing the scheme, having earlier supported the Village Hall Management Committee in securing a grant of just over £500,000 from The Big Lottery Fund. Other main funders include WREN, a not-for-profit grant-giving business, who donated £50,000, and Lindsey Action Zone.

The committee has raised further funds through community events and donations to cover the overall £800,000 cost of the project for the new multi-purpose building, which will serve the residents of Mareham le Fen, situated between Horncastle and Boston, as well as the surrounding parishes. 

Long-standing community member John Ellwood was given the honour of cutting the first sod. He was accompanied by pupils of Mareham Le Fen Church of England Primary School along with their headteacher Avril Moore.

Graham Beacham, chairman of Mareham le Fen Village Hall and Memorial Lawn Management Committee, said: “This is a great day. It’s so good to see the start of a new centre for the community. It has been quite a journey, but with the support of so many, success has been achieved.” 

Focus Consultants building surveyor Chris Smith, who grew up in the village and played a key role in helping to secure the Big Lottery Grant and in taking the project forward, said: “A new community building for Mareham le Fen is long overdue and I am delighted to have played a part in getting the scheme to where it is now, with a start on site.

“Focus is project managing the development and I am looking forward to seeing the building taking shape over the next few weeks and months.”

Local company Taylor Pearson has been contracted to carry out the building work, which is due to be completed in November 2017. The Boston office of Focus Consultants is handling the project management side of the scheme.

Additional funders who are supporting the building include Lincolnshire County Council, East Lindsey District Council, Garfield Weston Foundation, Trusthouse Charitable Foundation, Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation and Lincolnshire Co-op Community Champions.

Focus, which has its headquarters in Nottingham and other offices in London, Leicester, and Aubourn in Lincolnshire, offers a range of services in funding and economic development, project management, sustainable development and building surveying.

Since 1994 Focus has also secured for clients more than £953 million of grants for projects and businesses across the UK and delivered more than £1.3 billion worth of projects and programmes – making it one of the most successful businesses of its kind in the country.

For more information, visit www.focus-consultants.co.uk

Press release issued by Nottingham based PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk