How we've helped Boddington’s Preserves

Boddington’s Berries was established back in the 1940s after the Second World War in Mevagissey. The family-owned business has been growing and producing fresh produce for almost 80 years and is currently run by the fourth generation of the family, Will Boddington.

Their original site consisted of two acres, quickly growing to three, to accommodate the variety of apples, flowers, vegetables, and of course, strawberries. In the 1960s, the decision was made to specialise in berries from strawberries to raspberries and blackberries.

With a larger site and longer growing seasons, in 2001 Boddington’s Berries began making preserves out of the abundance of surplus berries.

“I took over in the late nineties, worked for my father, then continued the business on myself, and we pushed more into supermarket sales. At the time, we had tonnes of strawberries to shift, so that then led us to make jam,” explained Phil.

In the last few years, Phil’s son Will has come back to the business as Business Development Manager. This was upon discovering that making and selling the jam created work that tended to separate itself from the grower’s side of the business.

Phil said: “On the preserve making side, you need more marketing, research, product development, new products and more of that sort of work. Also, we’re buying in other fruits for the preserve making and that’s expanding. We’re now exporting jam to Japan and various other countries.”

Will stepped into his role from an engineering background. With the business’ international success and growth in the preserve market, it was at this point that the family reached out to The Growth Hub to support Will in growing his business development skills.

Allocated a one-to-one mentor, Will has undertaken both a financial and a sales course to get the ball rolling with his business knowledge.

“We’ve never done much sales and marketing in the past. We’ve grown organically through the longstanding reputation that we’ve got. So, we’ve started doing a bit more on the sales and marketing side of things with the changes in the business,” said Will.

The growth of the business has also meant adding members to their small team to help branch out and cope with demand. The Growth Hub’s ‘Talent Match’ initiative aids businesses with recruitment through workshops, coaching and support.

“The Talent Match course was all about taking on new members of staff and making sure you are doing it all right and proper by the law,” said Will.

“The Growth Hub will help you from start to finish, they do a feasibility study with you so you can make sure you can afford to take on the staff, to be much more confident that you’ve got the right things in place.”

Overall, Will has found the support from the Growth Hub has boosted both his knowledge and confidence to help him in his role supporting the family business.

“I would definitely recommend the Growth Hub—100%. They’ve been invaluable. If you’re looking to grow your business, I’d definitely recommend speaking to them because they can help you out with a vast range of topics.”