Expect the year 2001 to mean salad days for a small factory on the Elvington Industrial Estate.

The Salad Garden, which makes fresh, chilled sandwich fillings, has moved out of its 4,000 sq ft unit and into a factory more than three times the size nearby in York Road

The move to the new premises will be timed to coincide with new machinery - a total investment by partners Steve Hattee and Mick Kendall of about £180,000.

The firm, started in 1992, employs 20 people to prepare fillings such as Coronation chicken, tuna mayonnaise and crab salad for major sandwich distributors and bakeries all over Yorkshire, as well as Birmingham and Manchester.

Sharon Clothier, the Salad Garden's sales accounts manager, said: "The move anticipates gradual expansion with better capacity to go for bigger contracts such as the delicatessen counters of supermarkets.

"The increased business may mean more jobs in the short term and perhaps lots more in the long term."