Food to go and ready meals have been a mainstay of the business ever since the filling station launched in Co Down 33 years ago and they’re still leading the way, with more than 1,000 own-brand products.

“The most recent move for Milestone was to launch their own restaurant upstairs in the complex, named Loft 56 after the historic milestone which dates back to the days of Cromwell, that still sits on the site.  It was 56 Irish miles to Dublin,” says general manager Noel Hadden.

The restaurant has been proving a major draw in the area, especially at weekends, despite the hiccup caused by the pandemic, Noel says.

“The licensed restaurant opened in October 2019, but it was only going a few months when the pandemic hit, so it has been off and on since we were allowed to open again,” he says.

“Open from 12 noon daily, it serves not just the local community but people coming from further afield, attracting strong support especially on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings.”

Milestone Rathfriland started life as a small filling station with a kiosk, bought 33 years ago by Tom, who was an engineer by trade.

”I had absolutely no intention of keeping it for too long – I was just going to get it up and running and move on,” he admits.

“33 years on and I still haven’t moved on – I just got immersed into it. I really do enjoy it and it’s all-consuming, but it’s rewarding at the same time. If I don’t keep pushing, it gets boring, so that’s why we keep trying to innovate and in turn elevate the business.

The store has gone from about 500 sq ft to more than 16,000 sq ft and from a handful of staff, it now employs in excess of 200 staff.

Over that time Milestone Rathfriland has been extended and renovated on numerous occasions and it can now claim the honour of being the largest employer in town.

“The biggest change over the years has been the development of the whole food to go and ready meal side of the business and bakery side of the business,” says Noel.

“That’s been our unique selling point and there has been a great deal of development in those areas. We’ve seen growing demand for good quality food at the right price. Food has to be consistently good and it has to be available at the right price.

“There is more and more demand from customers who want restaurant quality food ready-made for them so they can take it home. People have been time scarce and are always on the go, always working hard, and that need and demand has been growing over the years.

“We have been ahead of the curve on this and the business has been going from strength to strength over the years with continual investment and development in these areas.”

One major draw is the bakery, with a wide range of products, including morning goods, granary breads and wheaten breads as well as pastries, buns and cakes.  People can also order cakes for all occasions from the bakery or online which can be decorated to their specific needs by the skilled decorators.

“One major challenge over the past year was the introduction of Natasha’s Law and the necessity of labelling all products with the full list of ingredients,” says Noel.

“This analysis is carried out instore by our team of expert food nutritionists, chefs and production engineers.  Having this onsite allows us to introduce and change our product range at a faster pace than many of the larger multinational stores.”

The shop’s own brands traded well in the second half of 2021, Noel says.

“We were able to increase the footage of store space for our own brands and growth in that was very good.

“One of the things I saw again this year was that there was a huge opportunity in the gifting and hampering trade from corporate companies and businesses who weren’t doing any party nights for their own staff, so we were well prepared for that this year.”

Rising costs will dominate in early 2022, Noel says.

“We think going into 2022, we are all going to face increasing costs, from energy costs and commodity costs on raw materials for bakery, deli and restaurant, to increases in standard cost price of goods across the board.

“We have been seeing that from before Christmas and it’s steadily on the increase. We are still not out of the woods yet with Brexit and the Protocol and it remains to be seen how that ends up.

“We’d like to think the whole Covid restrictions will get easier as we go on. Hopefully it will be a little more relaxed later in the year and we will continue to work through it,” Noel says.

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The law, officially titled The UK Food Information Amendment, now requires food businesses to provide full ingredient lists and allergen labelling on foods pre-packaged for direct sale on the premises. The legislation was introduced to protect allergy sufferers and give them confidence in the food they buy.

It was introduced after Natasha Ednan-Laperouse from Fulham in London died after suffering a severe reaction on a flight between London and Nice in 2016, after unknowingly eating sesame, which she was allergic to, in an artichoke, olive and tapenade sandwich from Pret a Manger at Heathrow Airport.

Insurance broker Partners& say there have been some concerns over the readiness of the industry to meet the new requirements.

Reputational damage

Food and drink sector specialist from Partners&, Gary Clifton, says: “From a general insurance point of view, we’d advise companies to check their public and products liability limits of indemnity – although these are two separate areas of cover, they commonly go hand-in-hand and share the same limit of indemnity. 

“Many standard limits are inadequate to respond to a major event, with minimum levels ranging from £1m to £2.5m. 

“It would only take one event resulting in life-changing injuries to a consumer to burn through these sums. After that, the business must fund costs and awards themselves. For many small businesses, this would be crippling.”

Gary warns that  the indirect costs of an actual or alleged case through reputational damage can also pose a significant threat. 

““Even if a business has complied with Natasha’s Law, their operation may still be suspended pending the outcome of any investigation resulting from an alleged breach, and they’ll still need to manage the impact on the brand in the interim,” he says.

“With social media, events can quickly spiral out of control and before they know it, their best intended actions when dealing with the incident or interactions with investigatory bodies can be counterproductive.”

Worst case scenario

Partners& advises companies to take immediate steps to prepare for a worst-case scenario. 

Gary says: “Alongside checking their insurance covers, we would also recommend companies drawing up a business resilience plan that should include how to limit their brand damage in the event of a crisis. We’d also recommend they work with a crisis management expert who can help them to draw up pre-prepared public statements and provide training in how to deal with the police and other investigating bodies in the wake of an allergic reaction.

“A company’s risk and insurance adviser should be in a position to help, not only with policy and claims administration, but even more importantly, in advising around pre-event preparations as mentioned above, as well as standing shoulder-to-shoulder with their client in the immediate aftermath and subsequent investigations of a major incident. 

“Whilst these may understandably be the last thing a business might want to think about right now, if they find themselves under the microscope following an allergic reaction, they will be grateful for having made such preparations.”

To find out more, contact Gary Clifton, client partner, chartered risk manager, at gary.clifton@partnersand.com.

Caption: Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse, the parents of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, with their son Alex

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