The 海角视频’s largest independent cheese producer Wyke Farms has announced it achieved a record £107m turnover in the last financial year.
The family run-business in Somerset, which is headquartered in Bruton, said it had seen a 20% rise in exports to the EU and the rest of the world during the year to March 2020.
The company made a net profit of £2.34m after tax - compared to £2.37m on a turnover of £97.1m in 2019.
READ MORE: {}
The firm said that it had prioritised automation and upskilling jobs over the past year and revealed this had been achieved in most areas of the business.
It added that these measures had allowed its operations to be compliant with social distancing guidelines and maintained high production levels.
The company, whose products are consumed in around 165 countries globally, has been increasing its storage capacity in order to meet growing demand for its mature cheddar in many Asian countries, South America and Africa.
It recently opened a huge new £3.5m distribution hub in Wincanton, which in addition to more of its own cheddar stock, will also accommodate products from smaller South West cheesemakers to help them export to the EU, amid rising costs and more complex regulations surrounding the shipment of products to the bloc.
The company has also set up as a European-based business in Ireland, with premises in France and Germany to mitigate any Brexit-linked disruption to EU trade.
Most Read
Sign up for more business news straight to your inbox
Stay up to date with our daily newsletter, email breaking news alerts and weekly round-ups. To sign up, find out more and see all of our newsletters, follow the link here
In addition to turnover topping £100m for the first time in its history, Wyke Farms reported the company continued to invest in renewable energy.
As well as a rise in gas production capacity from farm and business waste and in solar panels on roofs, the business reduced its emissions by replacing face-to-face meetings with online video calls.
Richard Clothier, Wyke Farms' managing director, said: “It’s been a revelation for us; we now communicate better than ever and without people driving thousands of miles per year, their risk of accident is less and they can spend more time with family.
“Post-Covid we will retain some of these good practices and not return to old ways.”