The British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) has appointed Karen McQuade as its new president, succeeding Ian Stone, who steps down after serving in the role since December 2020.

McQuade, a highly respected industry leader, steps into the post of president following her election at the federation’s Annual General Meeting on November 13.

She brings 25 years of experience in the frozen food sector, having attended her first BFFF event in 1999, and has made significant contributions to the industry since.

In 2007 she founded The UK Foodhall Ltd, which has grown into a leader in providing healthy, quality-assured British meat, fish, and poultry products to the school meal sector.

Driven by a commitment to sourcing locally and supporting British farmers and manufacturers, McQuade has earned national recognition, including 17 national business awards and 32 national product awards.

Today her business portfolio includes three additional British food manufacturing companies, employing around 260 people. A BFFF director for six years, she now takes on the presidency with a passion for supporting and representing the frozen food industry, particularly as it continues to address the growing demand for sustainable, waste-reducing, and preservative-free options.

Karen McQuade said: “I have always supported the BFFF for their championing of frozen food and the much-needed voice they give to the frozen-food category. Today, more than ever, we need the BFFF to speak loudly on our behalf about the sustainable benefits of frozen food, its role in reducing food waste, and the quality it brings without added preservatives.

“I’m also a strong advocate for the BFFF’s young leaders’ forum – encouraging the next generation is fundamental to our industry’s future.”

Rupert Ashby, CEO of the BFFF, said: “I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome Karen to her new role and am delighted that she has been appointed as president. Her entrepreneurial spirit, dedication to British food, and commitment to the frozen sector make her an inspiring leader for our industry.

“I would also like to express my gratitude on behalf of the federation to outgoing president Ian Stone. His invaluable service and steady leadership over the past four years have been instrumental in steering the BFFF through an exciting and challenging period which included changes following Brexit and lockdown. We are grateful for his dedication.”

Outgoing president Ian Stone was appointed in September as Chief Executive Designate of apetito UK, with which he has held various roles since he joined in 2003, latterly UK Chief Commercial Officer.

The British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) has named Shakespeare Martineau as its legal advice partner.

Joining forces to develop a new dedicated legal section on the BFFF member website the national, B-Corporation accredited firm will be providing regular legal updates, information, deep-dives and guides into the issues faced by the food sector.

Experts in the frozen food industry and cold chain, Shakespeare Martineau offers a full legal service, from corporate, commercial and property through to litigation, restructuring and succession planning.

Phil Pepper, partner at Shakespeare Martineau said: “We’ve been working with BFFF or a number of years and our relationship has been developing over this period support its members, therefore we are really proud to develop this more formally and support the BFFF in this way and are keen to hear from members about the issues they are facing, whether that be in the wake of cost-of-doing-business, or readying for growth, we can support businesses of all sizes unlock their potential.

“The food sector is an exciting, innovative industry with a range of complex issues from patents, regulation, and international dependences as well as growing concerns around environmental impact, skills gap and cost-of-living. We’re here to help and encourage members to get in touch with specific issues they’d like addressing and we can tailor our content to support this need.”

With over 200 members, including producers, wholesalers, importers, exporters, brokers, retailers and related businesses, the BFFF is committed to supporting members with the latest commercial and legislative updates impacting the sector.

Rupert Ashby, CEO at BFFF said: “We’re excited to launch our new legal portal alongside Shakespeare Martineau. We look to make it as easy as possible for our members to access important information and services and are thrilled to have the firm on board.”

Magnavale is excited to announce that construction of its highly anticipated cold-store facility at Easton is entering the final stages, with the completion and commissioning phase well underway and exclusive access to the facility now being allowed for some customers. This state-of-the-art development enhances Magnavale’s portfolio of temperature-controlled storage facilities, adding a further 101,000 pallet positions.

The main building and plant rooms are now fully complete, and testing of the advanced new automated storage and retrieval systems concluded in October, setting the stage for the first intake of goods for some key customers. The Magnavale Easton team moved into the newly finished offices in October to be closer to the action as the store comes fully online.

At the same time, external works, including the finishing touches to the delivery yard, and the installation of new car parking facilities, are progressing smoothly, with the new access road to Burton Lane on track to streamline the flow of traffic on and off site.

Designed by leading experts in the industry, the new temperature-controlled facility is built to ensure seamless operations during peak periods, such as the busy Christmas season. With multiple pallet ingress and egress points, the facility is engineered to prevent bottlenecks, while integrated redundancy measures guarantee that there is no single point of failure.

Amanda Cogan, Magnavale’s Chief Operating Officer, commented: “As we enter the final stages of this project, we are proud of the progress made and the capability this adds to Magnavale’s customer offering. From the project’s inception we looked to remove cost, complexity, and risk from our strategic partners supply chains. This cutting-edge development will enhance product safety, reduce food waste, and provide our strategic partners with a more efficient, dependable, and sustainable solution for temperature-controlled storage.”

For enquiries about frozen storage at Magnavale Easton, please send an email to enquiries@magnavale.co.uk or visit www.magnavale.co.uk.