A GROWING food wholesaler is expanding after significant investment in a new depot.

Bidfood, which has been based in Worthing since 1953, had been looking to relocate from a base in Ivy Arch Road for a number of years as it looked to expand its operation.

After finding an ideal site in Lancing Business Park, teams from Adur District Council worked closely with the company to develop the proposal and help it secure planning permission for an impressive new building.

The result is a brand new 64,000 sq ft depot, which is 60 per cent larger than its previous home and allows Bidfood to meet annual growth targets of ten per cent year-on-year.

Norman Wemyss, COO at Bidfood, said: “It is an exciting time for our team in Worthing.

“The new site has an array of features that are designed to better support the needs of customers, which will in turn aid the team in their mission to continue to grow Bidfood’s business and provide service excellence on the South Coast.

“The site development is a great opportunity to help grow and support the local economy by providing new business opportunities along with more jobs.”

Currently 104 staff are employed at the site.

Within 18 months this is expected to reach 120 with capacity to grow to 160 in future years.

Staff, which range from warehouse operatives to office and telesales workers, relocated to the new building in September.

Representatives from the council were given a tour of the impressive new building to see how the investment is allowing the firm to move more than 15,000 items of food every day.

Kim Seward, General Manager at Bidfood, said: “It was great for the council team to visit our new facilities.

“The site has capacity for growth to our business, for growth to the local economy and we look forward to being part of the Lancing Park community.”

Councillor Brian Boggis said: “I want to thank everyone at Bidfood for giving up their time to show us around what is a mightily-impressive new operation.

“This is fantastic good news story for our economy which has seen a growing company relocate so that it can expand and provide more local people with employment.

“Planning is about more than providing homes; we also need to provide jobs and high-quality workspaces too.”