ProCook - the Gloucester-based kitchenware company that started on a kitchen table at home - today floats on the stock exchange, valued at £158 million.

The firm with headquarters in Waterwells Business Park in Gloucester employs just over 700 staff, with 200 of them in Gloucester.

Today represents a massive achievement and a proud moment for founder and CEO Daniel O'Neill, who told Punchline in an exclusive interview: "We are going to ring the bell at 4.30 and close the market, so it's an exciting and very proud day for me."

In the same interview, he confirmed the company is expanding its base here in Gloucester.

A new larger warehouse is taking shape on St Modwen Park, Gloucester - bringing together its two existing sites in one location. The company has signed a 15-year lease for a 56,000 square foot unit at the business park adjacent to Junction 12 of the M5. The company expects to move into the new base next Summer.

Daniel O'Neill told Punchline: "I always believed that we had the potential to grow. I personally believe we design beautiful 'on trend' products which are amazing value for money, and we always felt there would be a tipping point where enough people knew about the brand, where sales would really start to accelerate."

The Covid lockdowns proved key in achieving that success. People were stuck at home and rediscovering a passion for cooking and doing their shopping online.

That meant that ProCook was on a level playing field with other bigger more established brands.

Daniel said: "We didn't have a Covid bounce, we sort of more had an acceleration. We did about five years growth on the web in one year and we have retained that growth and the stores bounced as well."

Procook has 58 stores nationwide. A core of 35 stores saw sales increase by 80%, on a two-year basis from 2019.

Overall, the company had a turnover in excess of £53 million last year and is predicting growth of 30-40 per cent this year.

Shares in ProCook are being valued at 145p a share for the stock market debut, valuing the company at £158 million. 12% of the equity has been set aside for staff.