Stirlingshire-based fudge manufacturer, Mrs Tilly’s Confectionery, has secured a £1.6m finance package.
The investment – provided by HSBC – will create 16 new jobs, make processes more efficient and extend the firm’s international footprint.
More specifically, the funding will allow the confectionery maker to invest in new machinery to make production processes more efficient, and support plans to expand the company’s footprint, following considerable growth in exports to Denmark, France, Germany, Poland and Switzerland.
Managing director and son of the company’s founders, Blair Paterson, said: “My parents founded the business in the family kitchen in 1997 and have worked extremely hard to make it the success it has become today.
“We have ambitions to grow the business and take Mrs Tilly’s fudge and tablet to an even wider international audience.
“The products we produce today follow exactly the same recipes and processes that were used from the start.”
Susan Rowand, head of business banking for HSBC in Scotland, said: “Mrs Tilly’s already has a presence overseas, but is looking to enter new markets and make Mrs Tilly’s fudge and tablet a truly global business.”
Tilly is aiming to increase turnover to £5m in the next five years, following on from last year’s success of selling more than two million bars.
International sales accounted for 3% of turnover in 2014 and the figure is expected to rise to 10% cent by the end of 2016.