HANDCRAFTED ice cream and chocolate maker Ryeburn of Helmsley is making a new name for itself.

Following Ryeburn's recent success at the Great Yorkshire Show, where it scooped the top award in the dairy show, it has re-branded the business to give it a more upmarket image.

Formerly known as Ryeburn Ice Cream and Ryeburn Chocolates, the two names combine under the single banner of Ryeburn of Helmsley and have an idyllic pastoral scene as a logo, following help and advice from Business Link York and North Yorkshire.

As part of the company's overall business development plan, adviser Peter Donoghue recommended that Ryeburn's head of production David Otterburn attend Business Link's Think Food And Drink forum, run by specialist Business Link design adviser Colin Holmes.

Following the event, Mr Otterburn enlisted the services of Richard Whittaker, of In-House Marketing, York, who spoke at the forum and who helped him with a design brief.

Edit Studios Ltd, in Harrogate, then interpreted the brief by creating a logo based on an image of the farmhouse where the milk used for making the ice cream was originally produced.

Mr Otterburn said: "Business Link was instrumental in helping me to develop a sound business plan, a key part of which was developing a new, more professional image. By putting me in touch with the right marketing and design people, they then helped me to put this plan into action.

"With their assistance I also redesigned the shop, which has been redecorated to create a more clean-cut image and the layout has been changed to incorporate a counter for the chocolates in a more prominent position." Mr Donoghue said: "Mr Otterburn has grown the business from a small tearoom to a big business with big ambitions.

"As a tearoom alone, the business had limited profitability, but by developing product lines further, it has great potential. The re-branding is part of the overall plan to grow the business and we are confident that Ryeburn of Helmsley's new image will help to raise its profile in the marketplace."

Updated: 11:52 Wednesday, August 18, 2004