Delivering project solutions for the food industry

Integrated Food Projects (IFP) has an industry-wide reputation for providing diverse, bespoke high impact solutions for its clients.

It allows them to tap into a resource of top-notch professionals; powerful allies who have successfully completed many projects for some of the biggest and most respected names in the food world, including VION, Samworth Brothers and 2 Sisters Food Group.

Carrying out projects with values ranging from tens of thousands through to multi-million pound complete facility developments, IFP has the knowledge and resources to tackle the most complex of challenges. Their services cover possibly everything you could ever think of when considering a food handling/manufacturing scenario … and probably quite a few things that you can’t, including the design and creation of complex ‘food safe’ production facilities, the development of concept layouts and process flows, procurement and installation of temperature controlled environments, highway and traffic planning, advice and solutions for waste treatment and recycling, sustainable building design and energy provision for food production facilities, and much more besides.

From just the germ of an idea, IFP can create systems and procedures to increase production capacity by providing project management services to companies that do not have the required specialist skills in-house or are unable to release the resource from their day today business activities.

More Affordable Than You Might Think

Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2012, IFP is renowned for delivering quality projects on budget and on time. It manages the entire project, with its service beginning with project planning and continuing into design development, budgeting and tendering, right through the project implementation stage to handover to their clients’ production teams.

What’s more, IFP’s portfolio of services is simple and more affordable than you might think. The benefits are almost too numerous to list, including the ability to increase efficiencies in all aspects of a business, learn from experts who share many years of hands-on ‘in your shoes’ experience, and open the door to new revenue streams.
Managing all but the simplest of projects, of course, can result in missed deadlines and unnecessary expense, primarily due to lack of scrutiny and co-ordination and control. Often it is just not possible to steer limited resources – especially manpower – onto a new project, as other areas of the business can then suffer.

A successful project requires teamwork IFP are well practiced in working alongside the client’s operational teams, frequently placing staff within the client’s business to achieve this. Indeed, IFP’s project and process specialists can become an intrinsic part of a client’s team; in some cases they have been working for the client for almost all of it’s history.

In fact, a number of prominent companies and organisations work with IFP, project after project. Some have been with IFP since the very beginning in 2002: Walkers Midshire Foods (part of the Samworth Brothers Group) is one such business.

IFP has been involved in developing Walkers Midshire Foods’ capital expenditure plans and has delivered many substantial expansion projects creating centres of excellence for production of high quality sausage and sliced cooked meats at their facilities in Leicester. The majority of projects here have been carried out while maintaining the live production environment alongside and so have involved strict controls, detailed programming and meticulous management to reduce the impact and eliminate the risks posed by the project works on the day-to-day operations of the business.

Like many other organisations, from large corporate bodies through to small, independent companies, Walkers Midshire Foods has discovered that IFP’s specialist knowledge results in a smoothly run project that saves both time and money.

Sought After from Manchester to Mumbai

Blue-chip clients in the UK who rely upon IFP’s expertise include such household names as Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Co-operative Food, ASDA, Morrisons and Dr Oetker. Moreover, the company is increasingly sought after overseas, with enquiries coming in from such diverse places as Russia, India and Dubai.

There are many reasons for this; not least IFP’s uncommon ability to provide food companies with the essential knowledge required for the successful delivery of their capital expenditure projects. It is also able to guide clients through such ‘dark arts’ as the ‘cook-chill process’, which whilst commonly utilised in the UK, is something of a mystery in many other parts of the world.

When it comes to the food industry, though, nothing is a mystery to IFP and, although every single project is unique with its own set of challenges, by combining its own expertise with the client’s product and process knowledge it can create effective, practical and cost-effective solutions – whether the facility is in Manchester, Mumbai or Moscow.

Quality people, quality projects providing specialist project management services to the food industry, IFP’s biggest asset is its workforce, which includes a number of real project managers along with it’s associates who provide particular skills and design expertise which are applied to the projects managed by IFP. This distinction is important, for it is the quality of its people that makes IFP stand out in a competitive marketplace.

The entire project management team at IFP has extensive project and process experience, and fully understand the risks that the food industry has to manage on a daily basis. The team includes founder and Managing Director, Philip Chatfield, who has in excess of 25 years experience in the delivery of food industry projects in the UK and overseas; Operations Director, Andy Tebbutt, with over 15 years on food industry projects; Project Manager, Gary Appleby, over 25 years of experience working with some of the country’s major manufacturers; Project Manager, Ed Keenan who has played a key role in major food industry projects around the globe; and non-executive Director Andy Hoe, with over 35 years of operational and project management experience in international food manufacture and pharmaceutical industries.

In addition, IFP partner with a number of high calibre design consultants and food specialists on a regular basis so that a trusted and experienced team can be readily assembled to suit the requirements of clients and deployed to provide world class project solutions as and when required.

Committed to Being No.1

IFP is committed to becoming the first choice project solutions provider for the food industry, delivering the highest standards of service and client support in the most cost-effective manner.

It aims to forge long-term relationships and strong collaborative links with its clients and stand shoulder to shoulder with them as they work together to deliver the desired objectives, enabling both companies to develop and grow.

IFP firmly believes that its people are its major strength, valuing their competence, loyalty and commitment, as it strives to achieve excellence in all that it does.

For further information and to find out how IFP can give your next project a competitive advantage, telephone 01530 412191. Alternatively, visit the company’s informative website at www.ifp-consulting.co.uk or email [email protected]. However you decide to get in touch, you’ll be made very welcome.