
Stephen and Graham Fagan, of logistics group Fagan & Whalley, told the story of the business’ growth to an audience of around 80 people at the gathering, held at Birchall Foodservice’s headquarters at Hapton.
The 90th anniversary has been marked with the opening of an impressive new head office and a purpose built 93,000 sq ft state-of-the-art warehouse on two prime sites in its home town – an £8m-plus investment in the future of the business and a sign of confidence in the area.
Operations director Graham recalled the history and heritage of the business and how it began life delivering coal from railway sidings in Hapton village with its early growth driven by the county’s textile industry.However, as cotton declined the business had to look for new customers. He said: “We diversified and have grown alongside local businesses around the area.
The Lancashire Business View event was held to launch the March/April edition of the magazine at Birchall Foodservice. It includes a full interview with Stephen and Graham.
A panel of funding experts also gave their advice on to the audience in a question and answer session hosted by publisher Richard Slater.Sue Barnard from the British Business Bank, Jo Fulthorpe of Business Enterprise Trust, Fiona Castela from Castela Consulting, Steve Worrall of Haydock Finance and Jane Pennington of Kingsley Asset Finance sat on the panel.
Enjoyed this? Read more from Ged Henderson