A HOME delivery company has seen strong trade throughout Cumbria, despite opening up shortly before the outbreak of Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown.

Jonny Honeyman was working for Will Box at Inter-fresh before they decided to open a produce delivery business together in January.

Jonny from Wigton said: “I’ve worked for Will on and off for a few years. I went away to New Zealand last year and when I got back we decided to start a delivery service.

“They work quite well in the cities, we decided to try it in Cumbria and see if we could get it going.”

The team started out in December with a single veg delivery for their customer’s Christmas dinner preparations but from there they have expanded to include single and mixed boxes of fruit and veg as well as dairy products.

Jonny said: "We were ticking away quite nicely and then we went into lockdown."

Although the coronavirus pandemic is a challenging period for business, Jonny and Will found themselves in a strong position with many families deciding to order their fruit and veg through Boxed Fresh, rather than venture out to the shops.

Jonny said: "The first week of lockdown we had to close the website. I was putting together and delivering about 100 boxes per week.

Panic buying added to the demand on the home delivery service.

He said: "When you went to the shops a lot of things weren't available.

"It's a good problem to have but it made it quite stressful."

The team deliver to homes and business throughout Allerdale as well as Carlisle, Penrith and the surrounding areas.

Cumbrian people are supporting the growing business.

"The support is absolutely brilliant and they've stuck with us which is nice.

"We're in a much better position than we were."

The business is paired with Will’s Interfresh which has benefitted the employees of the wholesale business.

Jonny said: “Their main customers are pubs, restaurants, all the places that were locked down. If it wasn't for us having the delivery service the staff would have been out of work."