Based in Harrogate, Kirsty’s, the UK’s leading ‘free from’ range of ready meals, has raised £2m from NPIF II – Mercia Equity Finance, which is managed by Mercia and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II.

With the funding from NPIF II, Kirsty’s will be able to launch new ‘food to go’ ranges and develop other new products. The investment, which is the first from NPIF II, is expected to add 15 new jobs to its 55-strong team in the next six months at the company’s Harrogate factory. As part of the deal Ian Kent, the former Commercial Director of Stateside Foods, has been appointed as Chair.

Created and launched by Kirsty Henshaw, Kirsty’s was founded in 2009 after discovering that her son Jacob had multiple food allergies, including to nuts, as well as dairy intolerance. With so few healthy and tasty food options available to her, she began experimenting with different recipes and started selling small batches of ice cream to health food stores. Gaining in popularity and receiving interest from major retailers such as Tesco, she took her business to Dragon’s Den in 2010. After successfully securing backing from Peter Jones and Duncan Bannatyne, Kirsty subsequently bought back their shares three years later after launching her meals into supermarkets across the country in 2012.

In 2020, Kirsty’s opened a state-of-the-art 100 per cent allergen-free factory in Harrogate bringing all its manufacturing operations in-house.

Kirsty’s ‘healthy’ ready meals are low in calories and free of allergens such as nuts, dairy, gluten and wheat. The company supplies all the major supermarkets and operates the only allergen-free factory of its size in the UK.