Quorn Foods is set to invest £7m into a new Innovation Centre at its headquarters in North Yorkshire, creating several new jobs over the next five years.

The new facility will break ground at the end of this summer, and is said to enhance capability in both core protein fermentation and innovation capability to develop new and better products.

The manufacturer has already created more than 100 jobs in the last year as it expands and states it expects to continue job creation, particularly in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) area as it brings the new facilities on line.

Quorn Foods has also announced its H1 2018 results, with like-for-like sales totalling £112m for the first six months of the year, up 12% on the same period in 2017.

This growth has said to see the company stay on track to become a billion dollar business by 2027.

According to Quorn, around the world, the meat-free category is growing typically between 10% and 20%, with the UK rising to 15%.

Quorn Foods chief executive Kevin Brennan comments: “With category momentum we are confident we can become a $1bn business in under 10 years.

“We hope to demonstrate that there are great British businesses in the North that can win on a global stage. We are already seeing amazing growth internationally: Australian sales are up 50% and US sales are up 23%.”