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Solid engineering Sugden Ltd is a leading designer and manufacturer of hotplate systems. Less than one month into the year, the UK-based company had made two major business announcements: the launch of a Mini Hotplate system for SMEs, and the acquisition of AMF’s VanderPol Waffle Systems, a fitting addition to its portfolio of Stroop waffle, Funcake, Belgian and Soft waffle production lines.
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Against a backdrop of preservation, a senSeptember 2019, just before the COVID-19 timent that defined business in 2020 measures took hold. By February 2020, two including bakeries, this UK-based company brand new lines had left the factory, for marched on. It settled into a new facility Germany and the UK. that greatly expanded its capabilities, developed and launched a new solution Thriving in survival mode with a smaller footprint, and added an A project was signed for three lines in entire range to its portfolio with the purAustralia in March 2020, in addition to chase of the waffle specialist. How did it other projects in the UK; four lines in td manage to do all of this, while navigating total were slated to be made in the new the same volatile 2020 as the entire indusfacility over the 12 months from the start try? Chris Baldwin, managing director, of the pandemic (down from the initial Chris Baldwin, managing director granted baking+biscuit international an six, potentially eight). “We can even Sugden Ltd interview, just as the news of the acquisisurvive with three-four lines a year; we tion was breaking, and shared the company’s strategy, and are lean enough to do that without losses. We are in a good what it plans going forward. position to manufacture higher volume (but that is not needed at the moment) and I think that is critical for any business. The VanderPol deal had been two years in the making, we But we could do more,” he tells us. As a light at the end of the learned. Initially, Sugden was not in a position to make the tunnel was starting to flicker midway through the year, acquisition, as at the time it was still running operations the decision was taken to proceed with the VanderPol acquifrom the old factory – a smaller facility with room only for the sition as well. The timing may not have been ideal under the manufacturing of one or two lines at the most. At the same circumstances, “But it was a great opportunity that wouldn’t time, the new 35,000sqf facility was under construction, come around again,” Baldwin adds. The deal was closed in which would be home to the production of up to six lines December and it has proved to be to Sugden’s advantage to simultaneously. Sugden moved to the new factory in complete the company’s portfolio in this way, and potentially Su
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www.bakingbiscuit.com 02/2021
