Multi-award-winning Cornish egg producer and packer St Ewe Free Range Eggs is set to open a new processing facility in Cornwall.

The new facility at Resparveth Farm, Grampound Road comes as the business continues to expand beyond what can be accommodated at its home base, with St Ewe now supplying national retailers and breaking into the international market, 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, already based at Ventonwyn Farm, Tregony, 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 its list of achievements.

For its new facility at Grampound Road it 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 the owners of St Ewe Eggs to help deliver their ambitions.

Site selection

Resparveth Farm is part of the council’s County Farms Estate and negotiations for the sale of the land to St Ewe Eggs 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 St Ewe Eggs through that process to ensure that its 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 St Ewe Eggs throughout the application process to ensure that it 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 soon, which the council said would create growth and jobs in both the area and across the wider supply chain.

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Bex Tonks, CEO of St Ewe Eggs, 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."