Food group William Jackson offloads salad processing division

William Jackson Food Group has sold its salad processing division to Florette.

The Hessle-based business has sold its MyFresh Wigan brand to the owners of the Florette brand, Agrial.

My Fresh is part f the £75m-turnover My Fresh Prepared Produce division which made a loss in its latest year, to April 2016, of £2m.

The division being sold employs 300 and will remain operating from its site in Lancashire.

The Wigan site will trade as MyFresh Wigan but will phase out the brand name in coming months.

William Jackson has been a shareholder in the business for 12 years.

The MyFresh Chicksands division in Bedfordshire remains part of the William Jackson Group and will continue under the brand name and under the direction of managing director Tim Proudlove, said the group .

In a statement William Jackson said: “The sale to Agrial is a fantastic opportunity for the Wigan site. The new owners are experts in fresh produce with a long history of investing in, and growing business in the sector; they are committed to the future of the business at the Wigan site and will invest to continue to grow the business.

“We’d like to thank each and every one of our Wigan colleagues for their hard work and commitment; it is sad to be saying farewell but we believe this is a fantastic opportunity for them and wish them all well.”