Sheffield has been chosen as Mr Whippy’s new £15 million manufacturing base, the brand known and loved for its classic soft serve ice cream across the UK.
Mr Whippy will release doughnuts into their sweet treat range from 2026, with expectations to produce over 104m doughnuts annually in Sheffield alone.
The food brand, a major part of British culture for many, already offers cupcakes, cookies and chocolate blocks, as well as its classic soft serve vanilla ice cream.
The popular food brand chose ESR Group’s European platform to open its new base in Sheffield. ESR Europe is a branch of ESR Group, a leading global real estate investment manager.
Michael Corrado Jackson, Company Director at Mr Whippy, agreed to a new lease for the site. The doughnuts will be produced and distributed from a 23,355 sq ft unit at Woodhouse Link in southeast Sheffield, located just off J31 of the M1.
Woodhouse Link is home to several occupiers, including Home Decor and BLE Smoke and Fire Curtains.
The unit, which will soon create over 50 new jobs in the industrial estate, is currently being fitted out for specialist food production, having been marketed by Knight Frank and CPP on behalf ESR’s European Group.
Michael Corrado Jackson said: “This major investment is a crucial next step for the brand and its product expansion, and this site perfectly fitted our needs both on location, and for operational purposes being a modern, detached unit. We will be able to satisfy the requirements for specialist food production, automation processes, and then easy distribution of the product.
“The unit will be the manufacturing hub for the doughnut production, which will be fully launched next year and available from retailers.”
Rebecca Schofield, Partner at Knight Frank said: “This is a fantastic example of inward investment in the region to produce a brand-new facility and associated jobs in Sheffield, as part of an ambitious business expansion.
“The modern unit leant itself to becoming a state-of-the-art food production facility and the location for distribution of the product is unparalleled.”
Words: Anneli Brett
