Rochdale food manufacturer gets AA rating after £400k investment

Posted by on 28 Oct 2021

A Rochdale food manufacturer is celebrating after being awarded a prestigious AA rating from the British Retail Consortium Global Food Standard for the second time. Richard Whittaker Ltd works with customers that supply all the major supermarkets and has an annual turnover of £9m.

The AA certification followed a planned inspection of the company’s 86,000 sq ft facility in August at The Mayfield Centre close to the M60.

Company secretary Sue Rigby said the accolade followed a £400,000 investment in new machinery and was testament to the hard work of the 120-strong workforce. “Everyone is absolutely delighted,” she said. “It gives our customers confidence that we’re adhering to the highest food standards and it’s a source of great pride to our staff.”

Richard Whittaker Ltd is a family-run business with Sue’s husband Alan Rigby being the managing director and their son Thom being the production director.

Following support from the Rochdale Development Agency, the company recently replaced two ageing pieces of equipment and bought a new blending machine to increase capacity in the gluten-free market.

Sue Rigby said: “You have to keep investing in your equipment. The new machines embrace every piece of technology and they don’t break down. They’ve really made us more efficient.”

Her son Thom said the inspection by the British Retail Consortium was a rigorous process that looked at everything including the traceability of all the ingredients handled by the company to make sure there’s no cross contamination.

He added: “BRC is the leading and most recognised safety and quality certification programme within the food industry. Our systems are strong and through hard work and commitment, we were awarded the highest audit score possible for announced audits. As a site we are extremely proud of this achievement and of our hard-working and dedicated staff, without whom we cannot enjoy such success”.

(L-R) Shaun Clegg, Quality Manager and Thom Rigby Production Director