The owner of Peterborough's Stilton Butchers has unveiled plans to create jobs and grow the business

A long-established butcher in Peterborough is poised to undertake a major expansion of the business.

James Morgan, owner of Britannic Foods, which trades online as Stilton Butchers, is moving into new premises, recruiting extra staff and is planning to open bricks and mortar stores across the country.

Mr Morgan (40), whose late father set up the business in 1978, said: “Business is really good at the moment.

“It’s a multi-million pound turnover business and I feel that we can go on trading forever.

“We trade online to homes across the country - we have about 200,000 customers - and our sales make £100,000 a week.”

Mr Morgan said the business was in the process of opening a 4,500 sq ft preparation centre in Axis Park, in Orton Southgate, with an investment of several hundred thousand pounds, and moving from previous premises in Fengate.

It employs 10 people and Mr Morgan says he is looking to hire a further five staff. But he said; “There has been a delay opening, which is now due to happen on June 27, and it left us unable to fulfil a lot of orders.

He said: “As a result I’ve refunded £300,000 worth of orders.”

Within the next three months Mr Morgan says he plans to open a shop in Durham

It will be followed by another in Peterborough city centre.

He said: “I plan to eventually have shops in the north, south, west and east of the country selling locally sourced products

He added: “But the flagship for us will still be Peterborough.”

Mr Morgan achieved a major transformation of the business in 2020 turning a £7 million business into a £15 million enterprise by re-developing its website and investing in delivering nationwide.

But the last few years have not been without its heartache and setbacks and Mr Morgan’s sisters Emma and Esther recently chose to close the separate business, Stilton Catering Butchers, which sold only to businesses, such as restaurants, pubs and cafes.

It comes after their father, Peter, passed away just four days after the onset of Covid-19 in March 2020, and their mother passed away the following year.

The pandemic was also a blow to the business as it forced much of the hospitality industry to close.

In a message to customers, the sisters stated: “For the last two years we have struggled to deal with losing both our parents - and dad was the heart of Stilton and without him it doesn’t work.

“So we decided to sell and make new lives and new memories.

“We have decided to close the doors, we haven’t gone bust. We had to have administration as it’s a limited company.”

It meant Stilton Catering Butchers ceased trading on May 27.

Administrators Wilson Field were officially appointed on June 6.

The company’s 23 members of staff had been redundant two days earlier. Ten have since been employed by the online business.