Bosses at one of Cumbria’s most familiar food firms say multi-million pound expansion plans could lead to their turnover quadrupling.

A blueprint by Pioneer Foodservice to open a state-of-the-art retail store at Rosehill could become a reality in early 2018.

The family-run business is aiming to move its current operation to bigger premises on the opposite side of Montgomery Way.

The new food hall will be stocked with a variety of locally-sourced produce, and will include a butcher, baker, charcuterie and a coffee shop.

A planning application has been submitted to Carlisle City Council, with the new food hall forming the lynch-pin of a £4 million to £5 million scheme planned by H&H Group on undeveloped land currently used as a car park for their Rosehill livestock mart.

The scheme also includes a 350-space car park and 11 industrial units.

Overall, the auction mart group says, the development will create about 50 new jobs.

H&H acquired the land from Carlisle City Council last year on a long lease.

Graham Jenkins, managing director of Pioneer Foodservice, said the new food hall would be a showcase for their expanding produce.

He added: “We do not want it to look like a supermarket.

“We want a real foodie store with the Pioneer ethos, which is good value and good quality.

“It won’t be cheap. We only have one crack at this.

“We won’t be going in half-heartedly. We are looking at a multi-million investment, which will see our turnover, double, triple and even quadruple.

“We are looking at ideas for the new retail store at the moment, and hopefully we will see some movement in the New Year.

“The scheme includes a coffee shop, which will sell coffee and cakes, but food bought in our deli and bakery can be consumed in the coffee shop,” he added.

Once construction starts, H&H has said, the scheme should be completed within 12 months.

The food hall will front Montgomery Way, with the car park behind and the industrial units at the back of the site towards Eastern Way.

H&H has appointed the chartered surveyor Hyde Harrington as adviser to work on the planning and marketing of the project.

H&H Group chief executive Brian Richardson said the scheme was a very significant development for the city, enhancing and further developing the Rosehill [Industrial] Estate and, most importantly, creating jobs.

“This has been a long-term project and we have been working on it for several years together with the council,” he said.

“It is a big investment for us, but it will mean jobs for Carlisle. We hope to secure planning fairly soon and after planning to start work in the New Year.

“It is an H&H project but we have been working closely with Pioneer, and we will be building to their specification the shell of the building, which will then be sub-let to them. Work on the business units will begin slightly later.”

The industrial units, aimed primarily at businesses linked to the agricultural sector, will be between 2,000sq ft and 10,000sq ft in size.

H&H says there has already been interest from potential occupiers and that it will work with tenants to create bespoke units to meet their requirements.

Mr Jenkins said the existing food hall at Rosehill will be used for storage. He added: “We will have plenty of uses for it. We are always expanding.”