Lance Forman is no stranger to making the most of challenging times. For four years the owner of H Forman & Son, a fourth-generation smokery and artisan food company, battled the Mayor of London’s office following a compulsory purchase order on the business’s original site in the heart of east London’s Olympic Park. However, the resolution of the dispute has worked in his favour, giving him the funds, in compensation money, to make dramatic changes to his business and turn it into a more modern and consumer-focused enterprise.

In 2006 he found a new site for the firm, which supplies some of London’s top restaurants and hotels with smoked salmon, caviar and other fresh and smoked fish. It was only a short distance away, and he set about creating a building that would accommodate the smokery, a visitor centre, space for corporate hospitality and a kitchen for new products and recipes, which the company markets via its mail-order business, Forman & Field. He also plans to open a restaurant to take advantage of the increased numbers of contractors and officials coming to the Olympic site.

The new building was designed in one month and erected in 10. Now up and running, it represents an investment of about £8m from the undisclosed compensation sum and a bank loan. “It has been an extraordinary pace. We’ve had to be very bold in our decision-making," says Forman.

Turnover stands at £8m, and Forman expects it to reach £10m next year. The core of the business remains London’s high-end restaurants. “That represents the best judgment of quality,” he says. “If you can supply them consistently, then you will have longevity."

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