Severn and Wye Smokery Ltd was incorporated in 1989 and operated from premises at Walmore Hill, Minsterworth. In 1999 due to business expansion it moved into a purpose built fish processing plant at Chaxhill, near Westbury-on-Severn from where it still operates from today. The business has continually grown over the years and now employs 116 members of staff on the Chaxhill site, as well as 49 members of staff at a facility located in Grimsby. The business has not only expanded its UK distribution but has developed key export markets in Dubai, Bahrain, India, Germany, Greece, France, Mauritius, Hong Kong and the USA. The American market has become such a vital market for Severn and Wye it has opened a US Company called Severn and Wye Smokery at a location in Gloucester, Massachusetts. All these processing facilities are currently coordinated from the Chaxhill site. Severn and Wye have many high profile clients which visit the Chaxhill site and while the small shop and cafe have a good reputation locally it was felt that they didn’t match the strength of the brand generally, and also the current offices, meeting rooms and staff welfare facilities needed urgent improvement. The project brief was to relocate the cafe and retail areas into the ground floor of a redundant agricultural building on the site, with a new 70 cover restaurant located on the first floor. The stone barn was refurbished using traditional building materials and techniques and will has a steel frame inserted internally which supports a ‘floating’ roof offering provide panoramic views of the surrounding sky line. The converted barn also features an artisan smoke house, a fish counter and a filleting school where Severn and Wye staff can demonstrate their skills in preparing and cooking fish products.