A business-savvy couple from Ashby who took a chance during lockdown have seen their efforts rewarded now that the pandemic is over.

By expanding their already successful catering company by investing £12,000 in two sandwich vans, they created a new arm of the business.

Now, three years later, Saffron Sandwich Vans has a turnover of over £1 million, which is in addition to the £2.5 million turnover for Saffron Catering.

The Appleby Magna-based business was created 11 years ago, offering catering solutions for weddings, events and corporate occasions.  

But, during the Covid pandemic owners Stacey and Carla Garey knew they had to think fast if the company was to not only survive, but be ready to expand when the pandemic ended.

They applied for a bounce back loan, spent it on the purchase of two, second hand, sandwich vans and took them directly to their customers - at the places where people were still working during lockdown.

Carla recalled how much of an important move that was.

She said: "It was a gamble, but at the same time, we kind of knew what we were doing.

"Things moved very quickly from there,  but it was all about that resilience on the back of Covid, taking the situation head on.  Our income grew hugely in the following year.

"Now, we have a £1 million turnover, 10 vans, eight of which are brand new, and employ 12 people specifically for that company (Saffron Sandwich Vans Limited).

"We were doing well before lockdown, but then things closed down overnight in all of the sectors we were working in and we had to think fast.

"Our business was hit so hard but we kept some people employed and they worked on moving all of the wedding/event dates which could not happen for our catering business Saffron. We bought two secondhand sandwich vans outright in cash from our bounce back loan. 

"We thought we'd see if it works because some people somewhere were still working during Covid, such as the NHS and critical businesses, so we went out and found them.

"It was about being clever as to where to go, obviously, the whole concept of mobile means you go out to the businesses.

"The whole business model needed to change because we needed to be more resilient, we needed to be more forward thinking. But we've managed to not only create a new and successful arm of the business, but this has grown exponentially. 

"We have far exceeded our pre-Covid turnover figures. We researched and invested in the best technology to help us work out the most profitable way of running the new company."

She looks back now and knows they made the right decision.

Carla added: "We could have took the option to do nothing and see how things played out, and a lot of people were just happy to sit back on furlough and maybe get a monthly grant, but we decided to take it head on and not accept that it was all over. It was a dream story, we had something new so that we could ride the wave and come out the other side, and add to our already successful company.

"Obviously some companies didn't survive at all. Whereas we looked for the weaknesses and where we could be at risk before changing that into a positive."

Saffron is the latest company to sponsor Ashby Nub News - which has just passed the landmark of one million page views since the turn of the year.

But Carla says that Saffron's expansion has not stopped there.

She says that the rapid progression during Covid meant they had already hit the ground running when lockdown restrictions were eased.

Carla added: "We want to create employment in our local area. We're based in a small village and we capture people from a 10-mile radius in terms of employment. 

"With the creation and growth of Saffron Sandwich Vans, we have created work for 14 new full-time employees, and under our Saffron umbrella, our companies employ near to 100 people working in various areas of our thriving business. Our kitchen team now works 24 hours a day. Two people work nights to make the sandwiches for the vans so that they're fresh the next morning."