John Tague, md, Seabrook Crisps

Seabrook's crinkle-cut crisps have always been popular in Northern England, but John Tague has overseen a mainstream revolution at the firm since his promotion from commercial director to md in February 2009.

The Bradford firm now has extensive listings with the likes of Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury and Morrisons. In March Seabrook also secured listings with major London cash and carry concerns. New listings have been backed by innovative products, and Seabrook's new ‘Goodbye salt, hello flavour' range (launched in February) contains 90% less salt than normal varieties, and took years to develop.

Seabrook's success comes despite rising input costs, and speaking to FoodManufacture.co.uk in January, Tague predicted a £34m turnover figure for the year ending September 2011 (it was £12m in 2007/8). He said that Seabrook was on course to exceed its 2015 turnover target of £63m and is considering building a second factory in the Northampton area.

Seabrook's reversal of fortunes, after a tougher period in the early noughties, was due to "hard work, engaging with retailers and aligning our strategy with our customers' strategies"​, said Tague.