AFTER almost 20 years working in retail at The Orange Grove greengrocery , owner Richard Musgrave decided to change to a wholesale fruit and vegetable business in July 2012.

Now, two years on, Strawberry Fields, based at Pooly Park Industrial Estate, Fruit Street, Keighley, can boast a turnover for this year of more than £1 million.

Strawberry Fields is a wholesale fruit and vegetable business which supplies restaurants, hotels, nursing homes, schools, cafes and other retail food outlets.

It now stocks more than 1,000 products, including fruit, vegetables and milk and 600 deli products such as olives and hams, supplying a client list of more than 200.

The firm supplies clients from within a 50-mile radius of its Keighley base, covering North and West Yorkshire. It also distributes 3,000 two-litre cartons of milk each week.

It now has 15 members of staff, including drivers for its four delivery vehicles, packers and employees who vacuum-pack the foods at its site.

Mr Musgrave, 39, said: “We have been growing since the move. It is the best thing that we have done when we went out of the retail side to wholesale.

“The vision was there. We’re taking it further now. The biggest thing was taking on a unit instead of a retail shop. We were taking a risk there. The gamble paid off.

“We invested in a cold room at our unit and all of our vans are chilled now. We have done all of that in the last two years.

“There is a fantastic market out there in wholesale. There is a lot of competition. It’s not just about the produce, it’s about customer service too."

Strawberry Fields won the Entrepreneur of the Year Award at this year’s Keighley Business Awards. This follows runners-up prizes at the previous year’s ceremony in the same category and also the Stop Press Award.

Mr Musgrave added: “To win the Entrepreneur of the Year Award this year was my biggest achievement. Winning it stands me in good stead. We’re hoping to win the big one, business of the year, next year. I don’t see why we can’t do it. What I want to do in the future is to expand further.”