As the son of a successful fruit and veg wholesaler, it would have been no surprise if Will Box had joined the family business. But he had other ideas – he wanted to start his own.

Inter Fresh, launched in 2016, is also a fruit and veg wholesaler and is currently supplying more than 100 customers across North Cumbria. The idea for his business developed during a year out travelling Australia.

“I spent five months in Brisbane working for a large fruit and veg wholesaler called MorCo Fresh. They operate throughout Australia and have some high-profile customers including Emirates and Singapore Airlines, Hilton Group, and P&O Cruises. I ended up looking after key accounts. That made me want to set up my own business. It was the processes, and the way they worked – I could see the potential.”

Thanks to the Growth Hub the business is way ahead of where I expected it to be after two years’ trading and we’re still growing.

On his return to Cumbria he set up Inter Fresh, initially supplying customers in and around Carlisle.

“From the money I saved while I was in Australia enabled to buy a van and get the business up and running. We now have a fleet of four vans and warehousing in Carlisle.”

When setting up Inter Fresh, Will enrolled on the Growth Hub’s Business Start-up Support programme.

He said: “I did one or two courses, but what I really wanted was someone to talk to and run things by. My adviser, acted as a sounding board and I saw him every few weeks to make sure I was on the right track. I understood the fruit and veg business but I didn’t know about the accounting side or employment legislation, so having someone to turn to was invaluable.”