Food and drink innovation centre opens in London

Small and medium sized (SME) food and drink companies in London are being invited to apply for places at the capital’s first food and drink innovation centre, which opens its doors today (15 October).

The centre, spearheaded by urban regeneration initiative, Park Royal Partnership, has a two-fold remit: to help London’s small food and drink companies achieve growth through innovation and best practice; and to promote and support healthy eating and sustainable local food and drink production in the capital.

Sally Fowler, who has more than 20 years’ experience in the food manufacturing industry, has been appointed manager of the food innovation centre, which is located in Park Royal, north-west London.

“This is a first for London’s SME food and drink producers and I want them to know that we are here to help,” she said. “This brand new facility plus access to practical advice from industry experts will be invaluable and can help to make a real difference to their competitive edge.”

Places are limited, so companies are being urged to apply immediately to access:

• The state of the art development kitchen, meeting rooms and training suite
• A range of industry consultants, suppliers and partners to deliver one-to-one advice
• Clinics, briefings, industry networking events and seminars
• Core technical services including legal updates and telephone support from food and drink research firm Campden BRI
• Subsidised training and specialist services

To qualify, companies need:

• To be London based
• Not to exceed 250 employees
• Not to have revenues in excess of €50m
• To have been trading for more than one year

The launch of the centre followed the results of EU-funded research which revealed that there are 870 businesses in London’s food and drink supply chain, with a total estimated turnover of £3.3b

An overwhelming majority of the 258 respondents (94%) were SMEs, with a turnover of less than £1m

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By Daniel Thomas

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