A PIE maker is investing £1million in its business even though its parent company has announced losses of £17.1m.

Holland’s Pies, Baxenden, has recently taken delivery of a fleet of new vans which it hopes will lead to massive savings on fuel.

But its parent company, Leeds-based Northern Foods, announced on Tuesday a £17.1m pre-tax loss which was partly down to the mothballing of its Fenland Foods manufacturing site.

Holland’s, however, continues to perform strongly and Northern Foods’ chilled division, which the pie maker is part of, saw sales rise by 4.5 per cent over the six months to September 27.

And its 28 new vans sourced from Ryder Europe are seen as a major step for the company, which employs 400 people.

Neil Court-Johnston, managing director of Holland’s, said: “Our new vans will be vastly more fuel efficient than their predecessors, which will help us to reduce both our costs and our carbon footprint.

“The sight of a Holland’s delivery van, with its distinctive green, red and gold livery, dropping off pies and puddings to the local chip shop is one which is close to the heart of so many in the North West.

“That’s why, in terms of livery, we’ve decided to stay true to the famous, brightly painted design which first appeared in 1927.”

The new Iveco 3.5 ton vans, which come with custom-designed temperature controlled bodywork, will halve Holland’s carbon footprint by half a ton of carbon per annum and save the company over £200,000 in fuel efficiency alone.

As part of the bigger picture, Northern Foods said its drive to respond to credit crunch times had seen it work increasingly with discounters such as Aldi, which is now the firm’s second biggest biscuit customer.

But the firm joined many of its retail customers in sounding a note of caution over consumer spending in the key Christmas period.

The firm is a major supplier to Marks & Spencer, as well as supermarket giants Tesco and Sainsbury’s, who are all taking steps to lure in cash-strapped shoppers.

Stefan Barden, chief executive of Northern Foods, said: “We remain confident of maintaining good progress throughout the balance of our financial year, whilst sharing the widely publicised uncertainty around consumer spending over the Christmas period.”

Northern Foods said interim profits were impacted by currency movements and increased investment in brands, such as its £5m Fox’s biscuits advertising campaign featuring “Vinnie” the cartoon character.