Flavour-making company plans £10m expansion

A Berkshire company that produces natural flavours for major food and drink producers has said it will invest £10m to create one of the largest manufacturing sites of its kind in the UK.

I.T.S said it has bought an 8.2-acre site in Hungerford, which will give it 20 times more production capacity to create liquid and powdered flavours.

Its existing sites in Newbury, which are being extended and are used for its production and product development, will be unaffected.

The firm was established by Mike Bagshaw from his kitchen table in 2009 and currently employs 40 people.

I.T.S expects the new facility to be operating within 18 months.

"This investment is a major step forward for I.T.S which began at a kitchen table 16 years ago and fantastic news for the local economy," Bagshaw said.

"My mantra has always to be brave, scale big, have fun and stay independent.

"We are certainly doing this now as our goal is to become the world's most-loved flavour house, delivering exceptional flavours and service to our customers from right here in the M4 corridor.

"We have a fabulous team, all of whom are essential to how we run the business and our future success."