Work To Begin On Our New Packing Centre

March 29 2021

We are delighted to announce that we have secured a site for a new packing centre which will see a significant expansion for the company.

The new site, formerly a county council-owned farm is close to our existing packing centre on the family farm near Tregony, but has far better transport links helping us to further our efforts to reduce our impact ont he environment.

The new facility at Resparveth Farm, Grampound Road comes as we continue to expand beyond what can be accommodated at our home-farm, with the St Ewe brand now supplying national retailers and breaking into the international markets, exporting to Dubai and Hong Kong.

The business has been supported in its expansion by Cornwall Council, the Cornwall Development Company and grant investment from DEFRA.

Tim Dwelly, the council’s portfolio holder for culture, economy and planning, said: “This is a fantastic example of the council supporting and guiding a local business to help it take a big step forward.

“The work done here across different departments and in partnership with other organisations will make sure that many people benefit, both directly and along the supply chain, leading to the creation of jobs and prosperity.”

St Ewe Free Range Eggs works with producer farms in Cornwall, across the South West and Wales, and has enjoyed huge growth in recent years, recently adding the title of Best Rural Food Business at the national Rural Business Awards to our list of achievements.

In order to secure the new facility at Grampound Road, we applied to DEFRA for a grant under its EAFRD Growth Programme towards the capital costs.

A number of options were looked at for the new location before Resparveth Farm was chosen and a number of Cornwall Council services worked with our Directors to help us deliver on our ambitions.

Site selection

Resparveth Farm is part of the council’s County Farms Estate and negotiations for the sale of the land was led by lead portfolio surveyor Jonny Alford.

The council funds from the sale are now being invested back into the Council Farms estate as part of the delivery of a new 20-year strategy to help improve the productivity and environmental performance of the estate as a whole.

Planning

The EAFRD process required planning approval to be in place prior to submitting an application for a grant. The council’s planning and sustainable development service guided us through that process to ensure that our plans were in keeping with established planning policy and completed in a timely manner.

Grant application

Cornwall Council’s economic growth manager David Rodda, with support from Liz Gilbert from the Cornwall Development Company – part of the council-owned Corserv Group of companies – helped us throughout the application process to ensure that we could present a strong case for investment, as the bid was being considered as part of a heavily oversubscribed national competitive process.

The grant application for £731,000 has been successful and work is due to start on site on 1st April this year, which the council said would create growth and jobs in both the area and across the wider supply chain.

Our CEO Bex Tonks, said: “We have been hugely grateful for the support of so many in helping us obtain the EAFRD grant, Johnny Alford and his team for the purchase of the land at Resparveth Farm and Martin Woodley and Cllr Bob Egerton with our planning application and subsequent planning development, which was all submitted and approved in the space of two months. 

“All of this was achieved during lockdown, which has been quite extraordinary, and we are so thankful to Cornwall Council for believing in and helping our vision for not only the business, but for the local community, come to fruition.”

David Rodda said St Ewe Eggs would be creating new employment in a rural area, as well as growth for the farmers that supply it with eggs and its wider supply chain.

Liz Gilbert, from the Cornwall Development Company, agreed: “St Ewe Eggs is a Cornish farming success story and this investment will provide a platform for the business to grow and develop long into the future.”