A CRISP company has avoided the credit crunch and signalled expansion into Oxford.

Bosses at Pipers Crisps want to set up a new distribution depot within the Oxford ring road within the next month.

Managing director Alex Albone has identified the city as being key to his growth plans which look set to escalate over the next year.

He said: “We are looking for an opportunity to go into the West Country, up the M40 to Birmingham and across to the Cotswolds.

“Geographically Oxford is perfect and there is a pool of people that can hopefully help us.

“It’s important we find the right people to fill these key roles.”

Annual turnover at the Lincolnshire-based firm grew by 32 per cent last year to £5.5m. Mr Albone said the business has averaged 28 per cent growth since starting 10 years ago.

He added: “We are looking to double our turnover in the next three years and Oxford provides an exciting opportunity.”

The company is looking for drivers and sales representatives to fill vacancies at the new Oxford site.

Ideally the premises will comprise about 1,500 sq ft of warehousing with additional office space.

Pipers Crisps are distributed direct to customers and are not available in major supermarkets.

The firm currently sells about 1.5 million packets a month through 3,500 outlets, including farm shops, garden centres and pubs.