A business which supplies restaurants and take-aways with fresh and frozen food is gearing up to relocate to new £5 million premises. Loughborough-based Ocean King will make the move to the purpose-built base in Derby this summer.
The independent business has been planning the relocation for more than a year and it is part of an expansion plan which will see the team grow from 30 to 150 people over next three years. Ocean King is owned and run by managing director Steven Thai and his family and supplies the Asian restaurant trade across the UK.
Mr Thai – who started the company with his dad 26 years ago – said: “We’ve worked really hard for this, and we’re not done yet.
“It’s hard to imagine that this will be our base. We’re so excited about it.
“We won’t stop at this one. Our growth strategy sees us opening more bases like this over the next decade.”
The 32,000 sq ft site to the south of Derby will not just include offices and a warehouse, but will have “nap pods” to help keep the workforce in tip-top condition, a language school, shared professional services spaces, a wellbeing cafe, business hub, trade and public counters. There will also be solar panels to provide green energy.
The business has been growing steadily over the last quarter-century and Mr Thai said it had received invaluable support along the way from the Business Gateway Growth Hub.
The growth hub is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and provides free and impartial support to help businesses in Leicester and Leicestershire.
It is delivered in partnership with Leicester City Council, Leicestershire County Council, East Midlands Chamber and the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership.
Mr Thai, who said they will keep a site in Loughborough, said: “When it comes to the new base, they have signposted us to contacts in the field of environmental sustainability and other areas of potential funding.
“The team is always on hand to offer advice, ask challenging questions, and make suggestions. It’s always good to have an extra opinion on these things.”
He said Digital Growth Programme support helped the firm from a technical point of view and a grant helped to finance software bringing sales, warehouse, and logistics on to one operating system.
While the current ERDF funding ends in June, support from the Business Gateway Growth Hub will remain.
He said: “Their support and signposting makes a huge difference.
"We’re looking forward to completing this move and then planning the next phase with the growth hub’s help."
