Express & Star

Wednesbury food firm KTC sets sights on expansion with £40 million funding deal

A Black Country food group with its labels on supermarket shelves nationwide is targeting global expansion after a £40 million funding boost from Lloyds Bank.

Published
Left to right: Renga Ramamoorthy (KTC), Jindy Khera (KTC), Tom Horton (Lloyds Bank), Tim Koeman (Lloyds Bank) Simran Bains (Lloyds) and James Meakin (Lloyds)

KTC Edibles, based in Wednesbury, supplies its cooking oil and world food products to retail chains, manufacturers and wholesalers in the UK and worldwide.

Following a boost of over 10 per cent in sales over the past year, the family-owned business recently secured a £40 million working capital facility from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking to accelerate its growth.

KTC Edibles employs 275 people across its two sites in Wednesbury and Liverpool and supplies more than 250 million litres of oil to the food industry every year.

Renga Ramamoorthy, finance director at KTC Edibles, said: “Our business has seen impressive growth over the past few years. This funding has provided us with the financial flexibility to concentrate on accelerating this with the expansion of our international client base.

“We recently switched to Lloyds Bank and were impressed by how the team took the time to really understand our business and arrange funding support that’s tailored to our exact needs.”

The funding will give the company the financial headroom it needs to focus on its expansion strategy, with plans to increase its global export operations by 25 per cent over the next five years.

Currently, the firm exports to Europe, North America and Canada, which account for five per cent of sales, and it is now looking to venture into new markets overseas.

The business’ annual turnover is currently £233million and it expects to increase this by at least 10 per cent over the next year.

Tom Horton, relationship director at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “KTC Edibles has a global reputation for high-quality products and as this recent funding shows, it’s an ambitious business that is helping to drive the local economy by focusing on growth opportunities.

“Supporting the ambitions of mid-market businesses like KTC Edibles is part of our commitment to helping Britain prosper.”