Portable Offices facilitate expansion of potato processing company

As one of the UK’s leading suppliers of processed potatoes to the supermarket ready meals market, Beverley based M&F Limited has enjoyed a period of rapid growth over the past few years necessitating the introduction of further staff accommodation.

The company currently employs 150 local people and is hoping, planning permitting, to increase that number by a further 75 over the coming months. Utilising purpose built machinery, M&F handles over 100,000 tonnes of potato per year. These are processed into high quality potatoes ranging from whole peel to sliced, diced and chips and transported across the UK to be incorporated into ready meals and then sold through well known outlets such as Waitrose and Marks & Spencer.

With demand increasing on a daily basis, this period of rapid growth resulted in an urgent need for additional office space, a canteen and changing facilities. With planning restraints, creating a stumbling block for their expansion plans, M&F’s Managing Director, Graham Stark, looked around for alternatives and decided on a portable building solution.

He said: “I looked at local accommodation providers and opted for Portable Offices. Not only were they professional, but they were highly responsive and just got to grips with our needs and sorted everything out so that there were no headaches for us. At the end of the day, we had some space and I just needed a company to provide the units and then come in and make it work for us and that’s what they did.

Graham Stark continues: “Initially, we hired two of the buildings and then, with our need developing into the long-term, we opted to purchase these and expand into a further unit.

“Essentially, Portable Offices tailored the product to our criteria and took over everything. We have to be responsive to our customers’ needs and it was good to find a supplier that mirrored our resourceful way of working.

“For the present, our accommodation needs have been met through the provision of these modular buildings, but longer term we will need to build permanent structures if we are to continue to meet the growing demand for our products which will in turn create jobs for local people.”

Portable Offices’ Leeds’ Manager, Chris Hanson, commented: “It is commendable that portable buildings can provide a lifeline to companies expansion needs. Modular accommodation is so flexible and versatile and can literally be shoe-horned into small spaces providing great value for money.”

M&F also entered and won Portable Offices’ photo competition, sending in a picture of all the staff outside the new buildings. They have been presented with the latest ipad2 in appreciation of their creative achievement.

The Portable Offices’ team is on hand to service companies’ and organisations’ accommodation needs and aims to provide a speedy, professional, cost-effective solution.

For further information call Portable Offices on 01244 53 55 66 or visit our website Portable Offices