Wilkin and Sons Ltd., Tiptree
Proposed Redevelopment
Feasibility Study
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Wilkin and Sons Ltd., Tiptree
Proposed Redevelopment
Feasibility study
Contents
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Introduction
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Process report
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Buildings report
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conclusion
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Wilkin and Sons Ltd., Tiptree
Proposed Redevelopment
Feasibility Study
Introduction
Chalcroft and Arctica have been invited by Wilkin &
Sons Ltd. to carry out a short feasibility study of their
existing business in Tiptree. This has been done in two
parts, process and buildings.
It should be noted that much of the information on
which the process analysis is based has been provided by
Wilkin & Sons Ltd. following a single day visit to the
Tiptree site. Considerable further detailed study would
be required to provide a deeper and more scientific basis
to this element of the report.
In terms of the buildings report only one option has
been considered and this solution was suggested by
Wilkin and Sons Ltd.
The aim of this study is to highlight the issues currently
affecting the existing premises and process and aid the
Board of Wilkin & Sons Ltd. when considering strategies
for the future development of the business.
This report seeks to
summarise the key facts and
future options.
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Wilkin and Sons Ltd., Tiptree
Proposed Redevelopment
Feasibility Study
Process Report
Chalcroft and Arctica visited site on 1 October 2007. A
series of meetings with Walter Scott, Chris Newenham,
Mark Smith and Melanie Humphries took place during
the day to help establish the existing business stratagems
and ascertain key facts about the existing process and
business.
A guided inspection of the process was undertaken with
Walter Scott, together with a tour of the outside of the
factory with Mark Smith.
Current Business Analysis
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Wilkin & Sons Ltd. have occupied the current site
in Tiptree since 1885 with significant investment
in 1889, 1895, 1910 (building upgrade), 1958,
1964, 1974-1979, 1981 etc. In general, excluding
the war years, every decade has seen investment;
an indication of their commitment to growth.
The current turnover is around £16M and is
producing a satisfactory profit.
Turnover has increased by 30% in the last 5 years.
This turnover is represented by: - Jams 60%
(~100 SKUs); Marmalades 30% (~20 SKUs);
Niche products 10% (~100 SKUs).
The number of manufacturing employees is
around 160 with 15% agency and a low turnover
rate.
Labour cost of sales is around 18% (typical for a
batch operation).
The main outlets are Food Service, delicatessen/
speciality shops, export and Waitrose.
A dessert business has been purchased recently.
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Wilkin and Sons Ltd., Tiptree
Proposed Redevelopment
Feasibility Study
Process Report Cont.
Current Business Analysis - Cont.: 
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Thursday Cottage, a small jam business has also
been purchased recently.
The jam and marmalade market is reported to
be shrinking but Wilkin & Sons Ltd. have steadily
increased their market share with volume growth
of just under 8% in recent years; driven mainly
by the growth in mini jars.
Future Opportunities: 
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Extend niche markets (Harrods +£1M)
Consider a “Premium Brand” (home grown,
home made, highest quality)
Supply to supermarkets (M&S +£10M)
Move into „Domestic Own Brands‟ (DOB).
Diversify process – e.g. sauces, yoghurts.
Diversify recipes.
Bring Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) in house
for better supply and processing control – though
may be a risk to quality.
Organic products.
Acquisition of smaller producers (23 small
jam suppliers in East Anglia alone)
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Wilkin and Sons Ltd., Tiptree
Proposed Redevelopment
Feasibility Study
Process Report Cont.
Future Challenges: 
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Food technical and hygiene standards are
inexorably rising in the food industry driven by
supermarket competition. The condition of the
present building fabric will be a bar to enjoying
most of the opportunities above; particularly in
the DOB category.
There is virtually no fire segregation or protection
in the factory and, given the high presence of
combustible materials, fire must be considered a
major risk.
The electrical installation standards are in part not
suitable for use in wet areas and consequently
could contravene health and safety legislation.
The factory layout does not encourage efficient
working, which will put pressure on margins in a
competitive market place.
The movement of materials within the factory by
hand and forklift trucks is considerably more than
is desired adding to cost.
Segregation of people and forklift trucks does not
meet current safety guidelines and the company is
at risk of prosecution in the event of a notifiable
accident.
Lack of segregation and control of work in
progress and finished stock may mean
unnecessarily high working capital demand.
Possibility of take over by bigger producer,
depending on the share structure and rules of
selling.
Reactive approach to New Product Development
(NPD) allows Customers to take the upper hand
and lead the business.
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Wilkin and Sons Ltd., Tiptree
Proposed Redevelopment
Feasibility Study
Process Report Cont.
Key Decisions Affecting Strategy: 
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The role of IQF vis à vis the provenance of farm
to factory?
Growth target?
Domestic Own Brand entry – yes or no? How
would this effect the current control Wilkin and
Sons Ltd. have of the business?
The importance of manufacturing environment as
a competitive advantage; helps brand image and
threatens competitors.
Conversely does moving the equipment into a
modern environment pose a risk to quality and
image?
Is the sale of land for housing development to fund
investment appropriate?
Doing nothing may be a high risk strategy – are
the market dynamics understood?
What is the vision and strategy of the competition?
How creative do Wilkin & Sons Ltd. want to be in
terms of developing current products and finding
new opportunities?
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Wilkin and Sons Ltd., Tiptree
Proposed Redevelopment
Feasibility Study
Buildings report
Existing Site and Factory Buildings: On the following pages can be found a site plan for the
current factory, together with a drawing provided by
Wilkin and Sons Ltd. with approximate building dates
and a very simple product flow added. These give a
good indication of the existing site and factory
arrangements.
The existing factory occupies a footprint of
approximately 12,500m2 for the main buildings, but
excluding the house, bungalow, farm offices, flats, shop
museum and unconnected stores / sheds.
The main part of the factory was built in the early
1900‟s and follows a low rise, north light solution
formed from brick / timber clad walls with wooden
trusses and internally visible timber sarking panels
typical of the period. In many areas the roof finish is
asbestos cement.
The stores were built in the 1940‟s and the packing
room in the 1960‟s and are largely similar although
metal framed.
The most recent factory extension is the filling room
built in 1996. It is steel framed with a brick / metal
cladding external envelope.
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Wilkin and Sons Ltd., Tiptree
Proposed Redevelopment
Feasibility Study
Buildings report cont.
Current Factory Conditions: In 1913 a Government Factory Inspector described
operations at the Tiptree site as being “… carried on
under the best conditions I have ever seen.”
In the 94 years that have elapsed since then standards in
the food manufacturing industry have changed
enormously. Whilst great efforts have been made by
Wilkin and Sons Ltd. over this period to maintain their
own standards and those of the fabric, the internal
factory conditions are now showing their age for the
following reasons: 
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Large areas of exposed timber and asbestos
cement sheeting in production areas, although
encapsulated by painted finishes.
Very few hygienic floor finishes, with a lot of
painted concrete. Where finishes are present, in
the old boiling room for instance, there are
instances of failure adjacent drainage channels
(although some of these are currently being
attended to).
High reliance on painted finishes with only the
Thursday Cottage area finished in a food safe
material.
Open drains in some areas.
Large number of ledges to trap dirt etc.,
particularly due to the presence of exposed roof
trusses.
Exposed services.
No air-locks to external entrances.
No inherent fire resistance, or fire compartments.
Scale of buildings restricts open spaces and
dictates product flows.
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Wilkin and Sons Ltd., Tiptree
Proposed Redevelopment
Feasibility Study
Buildings report cont.
New Factory Proposal: Chalcroft and Arctica were asked by Wilkin and Sons
Ltd. in early August 2007 to consider one scenario for
the possible relocation of the existing factory onto the
adjacent orchard to the east of the existing factory.
The main driver behind this proposal is the desire by
Wilkin and Sons Ltd. to bring the existing IQF
operations in-house on the Tiptree site. The associated
freezer provision and extended fruit packing operation
have been combined to form a first phase that forms the
front end of a new factory. The drawings on the
following pages illustrate conceptually how this could be
achieved.
In terms of overall footprint the new factory is
approximately 9,000m2, some 30% smaller than the
existing factory. 2,400m2 of new offices and staff
facilities space is shown adjacent but linked. Plant
facilities are also shown separately to provide possible
future factory expansion area, ease of maintenance
access and fire separation.
The location on the adjacent orchard was suggested by
Wilkin and Sons Ltd. This simplifies the relocation
process and frees up the existing factory area of the site
for redevelopment or disposal.
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Wilkin and Sons Ltd., Tiptree
Proposed Redevelopment
Feasibility Study
Buildings report cont.
New Factory Proposal Benefits: The proposal shown on the previous two pages is a very
quick response to the brief provided by Wilkin and Sons
ltd. but it does serve to clearly illustrate one of the key
benefits in having a purpose built factory; the building
fits the process, not the other way around.
A lot more work is required to develop the brief for a
new factory and determine the actual size and layout of
the spaces. However, other key benefits over the
existing factory buildings would be: 
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Modern, hygienic internal food processing style
environment for production areas constructed
from fire resisting, food safe finished, insulating
composite metal wall panels.
No exposed ledges etc. so that internal production
environments can be easily and thoroughly
cleaned down.
Services completely removed from production
environments. Dedicated service drops provided
directly to equipment within hygienic conduits,
such as stainless steel.
Higher ceilings where necessary, such as for
warehousing spaces, to maximise storage
capacities but minimise building footprint.
Integral fire resistance provided by use of fire
resisting materials. Physical separation of offices
and staff facilities and high risk plant areas.
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Wilkin and Sons Ltd., Tiptree
Proposed Redevelopment
Feasibility Study
conclusions
Points for Consideration - Process: 
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Wilkin & Sons Ltd. have a long tradition of
commitment to quality and their workforce.
The key to quality lies in the relationship between
raw materials, process and people; change one
without regard to the others and quality is put at
risk.
Wilkin & Sons Ltd. have in the past taken bold
investment decisions which have allowed the
company to flourish. Is the time right now for the
next bold decision?
Arthur Charles Wilkin wrote in 1905 “Where
there is no vision the people perish” and though
he was referring to the development of transport
links the quotation holds good today. A clear
vision of where the business intends to be in 5yrs
and 10yrs time is the foundation of any strategy
for change.
There may be more than one strategy that results
in the end objective and these should be
evaluated.
Working hours are currently only 8am to 5pm, 5
days a week, so significant additional
capacity is available.
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Wilkin and Sons Ltd., Tiptree
Proposed Redevelopment
Feasibility Study
Conclusions cont.
Points for Consideration - Buildings: 
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The existing factory buildings have a unique
character. Is this vitally important to the business
and needs to be retained or is a fresh start with a
modern design required?
How would any development need to be phased?
Could it be done in one go or are a number of
smaller phases required to complete the vision?
What size of facility is required?
How is expansion of business volumes to be dealt
with? Is a strategy for future extension required or
will space be provided initially that can be quickly
absorbed by new equipment as required? Or is a
combination of the two the best way forward?
Does the design of the building just meet current
standards, or is a cutting edge approach required?
What impact should green issues have on the
building design? Should this issue affect only the
building services or is a more radical approach,
such as the new Adnams distribution centre
required?
Is the existing factory site to be simply disposed of
or should Wilkin and Sons Ltd. take a more active
role in defining life within Tiptree by developing it
themselves, in conjunction with a partner or by
agreeing a clear design brief for the site, such as
low cost housing only for instance?
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Wilkin and Sons Ltd., Tiptree
Proposed Redevelopment
Feasibility Study
Conclusions cont.
Next Steps - Process: 
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Understand the Board‟s vision for the business.
Develop a marketing strategy for that vision.
Develop a manufacturing strategy to meet the
marketing requirements.
Develop a project strategy to deliver the
manufacturing requirements.
There is sufficient capacity to support moderated
growth.
A step change in output, to take on M&S business,
will require process and packing additions.
An efficient process layout should return 10%
savings on cost of manufacture.
A continuous improvement scrutiny should return
5% savings depending on the internal rate of
return. Invest to reduce base operating costs.
Develop an NPD facility to establish a culture of
innovation, provide a tool to grow excellent
customer relations and in time provide category
management of the sector for customers.
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Wilkin and Sons Ltd., Tiptree
Proposed Redevelopment
Feasibility Study
Conclusions cont.
Next Steps - Buildings: 
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A detailed brief is required to accurately define the
requirements of Wilkin and Sons Ltd. This needs
to cover all aspects of the project, both in terms of
the process and manufacturing requirements, but
also the specific building requirements.
Only one solution has been considered. More
work is required to fully consider what other
options are possible and their inherent strengths
and weaknesses.
The work on the buildings options needs to be
coordinated with the work being carried out for
Wilkin and Sons Ltd. by others who are
considering the land values of the existing site.
Early consultation is required with the local
planning department to establish what is and what
is not likely to be considered as acceptable
development.
A review of the existing site services is required
and some preliminary work carried out to
establish what is required, what sort of budget is
required and the potential programme
requirements.
An outline project budget is required to consider
with some degree of accuracy what the total
spend commitment for the project is.
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