A BRADFORD cash and carry has opened a new 89,000 sq ft store and taken on more staff as a result of a £2 million expansion.

The new United Foods Cash and Carry has opened on Planetrees Road, off Leeds Road, in Laisterdyke, with plans to increase its product range and enlarge its delivery fleet.

The new premises are more than five times the size of its previous home on nearby Mulgrave Street, also off Leeds Road in the city.

The family owned firm, which supplies goods to restaurants and fast food outlets across the north of England, bought the new premises with help from a £2.2 million finance package from Lloyds Bank.

The expansion has already seen the company hire ten more members of staff.

It also has more plans to improve its butchery department in addition to introducing a line of crockery products for restaurants and catering businesses.

The business supplies customers as far away as Liverpool and Middlesbrough, and is also adding five more delivery vans to its fleet with support from Lex Autolease.

United Foods Cash and Carry now expects its £7 million turnover to increase by 20 per cent as a result of the new store opening.

The cash and carry store is part of the Jinnah Group, a Kashmiri dining restaurant chain with restaurants Bradford, as well as York, Harrogate and Selby.

Saleem Akhtar, managing director at the Jinnah Group, said: “The growth and success of the cash and carry, which started in 1982, is down to a thriving hospitality industry in West Yorkshire and across the north.

“The new store will help us become one of the largest distributors of produce and equipment for restaurants, caterers and fast food stores in the region.

“Lloyds Bank has been an invaluable partner in helping us to grow our business.

“The support goes beyond finance and guidance, with tools like its International Trade Portal helping us to identify suppliers that can provide us with quality goods for our customers,” Mr Akhtar added.

Lee Rycraft, relationship director at Lloyds Bank, said: “This is another huge drive to expand from the Jinnah Group, which also recently announced plans to open a world-food centre and hotel in Bradford.

“The group’s initiatives will help to create many new jobs in Bradford.

“Ambitious companies like this are helping Britain to prosper, which is why we’re happy to support Jinnah Group on its latest project.”