A NEW building the size of an average supermarket is springing up on Leeming Bar industrial estate as a successful ice- cream maker expands still further.

Richmond Frozen Confectionery has undertaken a £4m investment to make its Leeming Bar factory the biggest ice-cream plant in Europe.

The 3,000-square metre extension will create 80 full-time jobs and contain seven additional production lines capable of producing 70m litres of ice- cream a year.

As a whole, the Leeming Bar site will have the capacity to produce about 100m litres a year, making it Europe's largest ice-cream factory by volume, and producing about 30pc of all UK ice cream consumed in the home.

The new factory is expected to go into full production in March next year, and the 80 new employees will increase the total Leeming Bar workforce to more than 300.

The extension is being built by Hambleton Steel, of Brompton-on-Swale; more local firms are expected to be involved as the interior takes shape.

Richmond also plans to install two of the largest instant blast spiral freezers available in the UK, capable of freezing 41,000 litres of ice-cream an hour between them. This will ensure that all the firm's two-litre value products are now blast frozen, significantly improving product quality.

Mr Ibrahim Najafi, group operations director at Richmond, said: "This latest investment means we have spent £10m in under five years making Leeming Bar one of the most up-to-date ice-cream factories in Europe."

The extension will go hand-in-hand with Richmond's commitment to staff training. The new employees will be introduced to award-winning training programmes, including NVQs in a wide range of work-related disciplines, recognised as among the most comprehensive in industry.

Richmond, which is also looking towards business opportunities in Europe, has come a long way since 1985 when local businessman Mr Jonathan Ropner and other investors bought a majority holding in Cardosi's, a small ice-cream company employing four people in a garage at Thornaby.

Production was moved to Leeming Bar in 1987 and the name changed to Richmond Ice Cream in 1989, when the firm received its first order from the Morrison supermarket chain.

The firm consolidated its position by acquiring Windsor Creameries of South Wales in 1995; merging with the troubled Treats group of Leeds in 1998 and buying out Allied Frozen Foods last year. A further name change, to Richmond Foods plc, came in 1998.

l The company has created two new senior management posts. Paula White has been appointed factory development manager. She has almost 20 years' food manufacturing experience, holding senior production development posts with top companies.

Caroline Heard has joined the company as customer development manager. Her seven years in the food sector include being a product manager in ice-cream at Sainsbury's.