Vegan food business The Devil's Kitchen will be one of the first tenants of the new EcoPark.

It has seen rapid growth since launching in 2019 and co-founder Dale Vince said it needs a bigger factory to keep up with demand.

In an exclusive interview with Punchline  he said the current base at Q Park in Stroud was just "a few portacabins" and urgently needed upgrading.

"We have been in planning for a while now to try and expand where we are and keep pace with the demand we are facing before we get a chance to move to EcoPark," said Dale.

"I think it will be one of the first tenants. One of the first things we build there will be big food facility and Skydiamond."

The entrepreneur announced in Friday he was stepping down as CEO of Ecotricity, the green energy firm he founded in Stroud in the 90s.

But he will hang on to his beloved green Union Jack. "I told our people at KPMG to take it out of the deal perimeter," he said. "It's not for sale."

Dale will also continue to run his other ventures, including The Devil's Kitchen and Skydiamond, which creates gems from activated carbon. He will also remain chairman of Forest Green Rovers, where his vegan food revolution started. The club went fully vegan six years ago, serving up dishes such as Q Pie with Quorn, vegan pizzas, fajitas, salads and sweet potato fries.

The Devils Kitchen followed after Dale was contacted by Barry Jordan- a food industry specialist and together they launched products free from the 14 major food allergens such as soy and nuts. Dishes include a shiitake mushroom burger and spicy vegan balls made with pea protein.

The current factory is powered by wind and sun energy and Dale said business was going "really well".

"We are just expanding our facility now," he added. "We had a big spiral freezer delivered this week.

"We are inundated with enquiries by caters for schools and colleges as well as from supermarkets. We have got some new things coming out in the next few weeks.

"We just can't keep up actually. Or we can but just. It's very exciting.

"There is an explosion in plant-based food just like there has been with green energy and cars, other things we have innovated in."

Dale said the EcoPark was still two years away from actually being built. It will be located on land next to Junction 13 of the M5.

"The first stage of that will be some training pitches and I think we are days away from getting planning permission," said Dale. "If that's the case within the next few weeks we should start work on the pitches, with a view to being ready this time next year.

"Then the whole thing is going through the Local Plan review which should come out back end of Summer.

"We have already got outline planning for the stadium. Then it will be about solving issues like access and have got some highways issues and finding the cash and then starting the build the business park and stadium.

"Hopefully, we are two or three years away from getting going."