A GOURMET food company is planning to double its workforce during the next year after a surge in demand for its products.

Tanfield Food Company, based in County Durham, is planning to double its workforce of more than 30 staff to more than 60 in the next 12 months, only three years after the firm was established.

The company, which makes gourmet meals, soups and sauces, is now planning to expand the brand in the UK and abroad and build on its most popular ranges.

Tanfield Food Company last year spoke of its hopes to increase its workforce to 300 and raise turnover to £25m within three years, after its Look What We Found range of products attracted orders from supermarket chains Waitrose and US-owned Costco.

The Consett-based firm has been helped in the latest phase of its expansion plans by a £400,000 grant from Evolve Finance.

Keith Gill, co-founder and executive director at Tanfield Food Company, said: "Due to the increasing demand for our products, we have identified that we need to expand and introduce new ranges and build on our already established stock.

"Therefore, we will be using the funding to help develop our 'pour-over-sauces' and gourmet soup ranges that have proven extremely popular so far, so the funding is timely."

Tanfield Food Company was set up in 2004 by Mr Gill and Roger McKechnie.

The pair sold their Phileas Fogg brand of snacks in 1993 for £24m.

The new firm prides itself in all its products are created using locally-sourced ingredients from small producers, without using additives.

Joanne Pratt, investment executive at Evolve, the specialist debt and mezzanine finance division of NEL Fund Managers Limited, said: "The team at Tanfield Food Company put forward a concise business plan. As a newly-established company, they just needed to bridge the funding gap to help take the business forward.

"We are confident that they will continue to build their brand using a wide range of excellent products and take the company to the next level."