Whitley Bay’s Oatein conquers major British supermarkets with support from Scaleup North East

A North East based snack brand has sealed partnerships with major UK outlets.

The founders of Oatein, Andy Dixon and John-Paul Gardner, have signed up with large UK multiples, after receiving business support from multi-million-pound programme Scaleup North East.

RTC North is delivering Scaleup North East in conjunction with the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The programme is aimed at supporting North East-based businesses that can demonstrate both the hunger and potential to achieve high levels of growth.

Oatein joined the programme in November last year after featuring on Dragons Den and accepting an offer from Peter Jones. Currently selling successfully in 55 countries, their UK market had huge growth potential, which led them to join the Scaleup North East programme.

Scaleup partner Craig Huntingdon supported the pair through their scaleup journey. He said:

“What brought Oatein to Scaleup North East was their desire to develop their UK presence. Despite a really healthy international footprint, they were struggling to gain market penetration at home. I am happy to say we’ve been able to help Oatein enter a notoriously difficult sector by developing sales opportunities with large national retailers and navigating the challenges of supplying supermarkets.”

Oatein founder Andy Dixon said:

“Craig played an instrumental role in getting our foot through the doors of some of the biggest UK supermarkets and healthy food stores, providing invaluable guidance and advice to both John Paul and myself.

“By getting onto the programme, we were able to tap into Craig’s wide-ranging knowledge and expertise, and what we found extremely helpful in particular was the fact that he is extremely approachable and always on the other side of the phone when we need him.”

Oatein are currently enjoying a keen interest from chains both in the UK and internationally, and are expanding at a rapid rate.

To achieve your organisation’s full potential, apply for the Scaleup North East programme here: https://www.scaleupnortheast.co.uk/.