Heck has become 100% family owned again after striking a deal to buy back shares from its private equity partner, The Grocer can confirm.
The North Yorkshire-based sausage supplier is buying back its equity stake from investment partner Panoramic after an 11-year partnership.
While the sum of the deal wasn’t confirmed, sales manager and founder Jamie Keeble said the four-year buyout deal had come at the right time.
The business was in the “right strategic place to take [it] to that next level”, he added.
“We want to keep the business family owned for future generations,” said Keeble. “We’re all involved in the company, and we all have children now as well so it’s nice to see if we can maybe potentially keep this future-proofed for that generation.
“It’s a huge gamble to put that sort of financial pressure on the business, but we believe we’ve got the growth and the investment to do it,” he added.
It comes as the business filed “incredible” financial results for the year to 31 July 2025, where turnover soared by 30.6% to £32.2m.
The latest accounts, published at Companies House, showed operating profits were also strong, more than doubling from £425k in the previous year to £1.3m in 2025.
Changing consumer sentiment towards healthier options had helped the business, as had its NPD pipeline and automation investments, Keeble said.
“Everything seems to be falling into place at the moment, but we have invested quite heavily,” he said pointing to investment in automation and manufacturing upgrades which had made the business “leaner”.
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Further investment is planned over the coming year, including in a factory extension to enable the business to move into frozen lines next year.
“That’s not just to bring out a frozen version of what we currently produce in fresh,” he said. “I think there’s a great opportunity for us to move in there [as] you can see there’s been a huge consumer shift in health in the fresh category but in frozen there isn’t really a healthy alternative to sausage.”
Elswhere, the biggest cost for the business is in meat with chicken and beef prices surging in recent months, although pork has been steadier.
“We know how proteins can go up and down, and it’s just about supporting each other, having trusted customers as well to make sure they support you fully,” he said, adding that “we’ve been in the game a long time”.
The business has seen distribution increase by 19%, while Kantar data has also revealed that loyalty to the brand is also up 4%, outpacing rival brands – seen as a “real win” by the brand.
“It’s always keeping yourself grounded to make sure that when you have a good year, it’s about how you build upon that and how do you sustain it,” he said.
The current year, yet to be reported, is also on track to improve on the latest results, with the company set to hit £41m.
Keeble reiterated ambitions for the business to expand into the US but “right now the UK, there’s plenty to go up: huge expansion plans, different categories, and this year’s growth is looking pretty impressive as well”.
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