IN Brief:
- Whiterock has become a minority shareholder in Around Noon.
- Around Noon produces sandwiches, wraps, salads, hot deli products, snack pots, and bakery items.
- The business supplies more than four million products a month across retail, travel, education, forecourt, catering, and coffee channels.
Around Noon has secured investment from Belfast-based fund manager Whiterock to support its next phase of growth across the UK and Ireland.
Whiterock has become a minority shareholder in the food-to-go manufacturer, which operates from its Newry headquarters as well as sites in North London and Slough. Around Noon produces sandwiches, wraps, salads, breakfast and hot deli options, snack pots, and bakery products for convenience, supermarket retail, contract catering, events, travel, education, forecourt, and coffee channels.
Founded by the Chambers family in 1989, the business has grown through organic expansion and acquisition. In 2023, it acquired London’s Soho Sandwich Company, adding a North London production facility and around 300 staff. In 2025, it opened a new manufacturing facility in Slough, creating 200 jobs and increasing manufacturing capacity by £50m.
Around Noon currently supplies more than four million products every month. The new investment will support its ambition to become the UK and Ireland’s leading food-to-go manufacturer by 2030.
Gareth Chambers, chief executive officer of Around Noon, said: “We see huge growth opportunities in the UK and Ireland, and taking on equity backing will be incredibly helpful to us in being able to scale significantly.”
He added: “We are grateful to the Whiterock team for their support and expertise and believe they can play a very valuable role in the next phase of Around Noon and our growth.”
Whiterock has operated across Northern Ireland for more than 14 years, providing flexible debt, equity, and brokerage solutions to growing SMEs. Paul Millar, chief executive officer of Whiterock, said: “Around Noon is an incredible story of Northern Ireland business success and a company that is truly respected in the food-to-go sector. We are extremely pleased to partner with Gareth and the team to help them realise their ambitions for further growth.”
Food-to-go manufacturing remains one of the most operationally demanding parts of chilled food production. Products are short shelf-life, labour-intensive, and distributed through channels with tight delivery windows. Growth requires factory capacity, chilled logistics, packaging continuity, labour planning, and accurate customer forecasting.
Around Noon’s network gives it manufacturing reach across Northern Ireland, London, and the South East. Proximity to major population centres can improve service levels, freshness, and delivery flexibility, while multi-site production offers greater resilience than a single-factory model.
Prepared-foods manufacturers are also being pushed toward more flexible production. Retailers and foodservice operators want faster seasonal changes, smaller runs for premium or dietary-specific ranges, and consistent private-label quality. That places pressure on production planning, hygiene systems, packaging formats, and chilled distribution.
Equity backing gives Around Noon additional capacity to absorb larger contracts, integrate acquisitions, and upgrade infrastructure. The next stage will require disciplined execution across sites, especially as food-to-go customers continue to demand speed, freshness, and product variation without sacrificing reliability.
