A HUGE leap in demand for British game is paying dividends for a company whose clients include some of the country's most exclusive restaurants.

Yorkshire Game, which began as a kitchen table venture in 1989, has proved so successful it has just moved from Newton Aycliffe into a new, purpose-built 20,000sq feet processing plant and offices in Brompton-on-Swale.

The move was grant-aided under Defra's Processing and Marketing Grant scheme and will help the company meet the demands of new markets.

As well as separate lines for venison and for feather and fur species - necessary to obtain a full export licence - the facility is designed to cut and pack meat to order.

The plant employs 20, with an additional ten jobs during the game season.

Sandra Baxter, managing director, founded the company with her husband, Louis, and has seen demand boom for all types of game products.

"There is a real demand for high quality, traceable game, both in the UK and abroad," she said. "Game is the ultimate free-range meat and, because it's typically leaner and has a lower fat content, is regarded as healthier.

"People trust it because you can only obtain it fresh when it is in season. However, we're also seeing increased demand for frozen game out of season.

"Our busiest time is during the grouse season, when we are inundated with orders from leading restaurants. That demand is expanding with chefs looking for new recipe ideas which aren't always tied to a season."

All the meat comes from shooting estates, syndicates and sports shooters across the North of England and Scotland.

The company supplies customers across the whole meat industry and boasts a client list of top London restaurants and clubs, delivering to London twice a week, which enables the company to remain in close contact with the chefs and able to discuss new ideas.

"This expansion opens up a huge market for us," said Mrs Baxter. "It will enable us to meet the traceability requirements of the larger catering butchers; potentially to move into the 'added-value' market of pre-prepared meat, which makes game more user-friendly for shoppers, and to tackle the export market.

"The UK is a net producer of game, while the EU is a net importer. It's a market we can't ignore".

As chairman of the National Association of Game Dealers, she is also involved in a joint project with the Countryside Alliance to promote game to a wider audience.

Partly supported by a Defra Rural Enterprise Scheme grant, "Game to Eat" provides advice on buying and cooking game and provides a database of UK suppliers.

Christine Clark, of Defra's Rural Development Service, has been helping with the project. "The aims of the processing and marketing grant include the development of facilities to help producers cope with changing trends in the market and encourage the creation of new outlets for produce," she said.

"This new facility will ensure that Yorkshire Game is able to expand to meet the demands of the market, both in this country and abroad, and to share that experience with its suppliers.

"It will also ensure that what is seen by some as a pastime continues to make an important contribution to the rural economy and to the management of the rural landscape. Yorkshire Game provides a vital link between the estates and farms and the market.