It was only seven years ago when Duncan Farrington from Bottom Farm decided to take a financial risk and start up a business producing and selling cold pressed rapeseed oil.
The product was Farrington’s Mellow Yellow and today it is obvious that his decision to risk the original sum of £17,000 in the hope of breaking even by selling 12,000 bottles a year paid off.
Nowadays the family firm in Hargrave, Northamptonshire, sells 6,000 bottles every couple of days and is regularly used by such famous names as Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson and James Martin.
In order to keep up with increasing demand for the original oil as well as salad dressing and mayonnaise ranges, Farrington Oils has increased its workforce and is in the process of expanding its production facilities, investing £200,000 and doubling the capacity of the Hargrave farm.
Duncan said: “We have spent this year, the last six to eight months, completing it, but there will be more to do yet. We have spent £200,000 and 90 per cent of that has been on British manufactured machinery and local fabrication. It has brought us the doubling of capacity we need.
“Our existing customers include local farm shops, national supermarkets and we are also doing more restaurants as well. Demand is going up everywhere and it is about meeting that existing customer demand.”
The Farrington Oils team will be hoping the investment pays off but, with a current turnover exceeding £1 million, having increased 90 per cent in the last year, the future looks as bright as well, um, rapeseed.
Duncan said: “I took the risk and did not know if it would work or not. I got a grant from the Government and borrowed the rest from the bank. I remember the total risk of it worked out as £17,000. It cost more than that but that was the amount for things we couldn’t resell like our order for 70,000 Farrington bottle caps. It was a risk when I did not have the money but it was a risk that I was happy to take.
“We needed 12,000 bottles to break even and make a small profit. In only one year we were half way to our target and seven or eight years later we can now do 6,000 bottles every two or three days.
“The timing was right, like all good ideas a bit of luck was needed. People are now interested in healthy eating.”
And Duncan is very grateful for the massive support his company has received from some major names in the food industry.
He explained: “James Martin uses it loads and he is a great supporter. I had never met Nigella but a friend phoned us and said Nigella is using a bottle on TV. She has written about us in her book and included us in one of her newspaper columns. I now send her a Christmas card.
“With Jamie Oliver, I have met him a couple of times, he is a really good guy, and we are now working very closely with him. He has a chain of restaurants called Union Jacks and uses all British ingredients. When you go in the restaurant our bottles are on display and ingredients are cooked using it. It was a fantastic coup to get that.”