Tasty merger creates £45m-turnover food manufacturer

FOOD manufacturer Silbury has merged with pizza ingredients supplier Portal Foods.

The deal creates a £45m-turnover business, which is looking to open up new markets for growth.

Silbury and Portal are both shareholders in Portuguese based tomato product manufacturer HIT Group.

Silbury has a processing plant in Brough, as well as offices in Knaresborough and Warwick.

Adrian Hall, managing director of Silbury, said: “The foodservice industry is experiencing rapid growth in the UK and by combining our strengths we are well positioned to meet the needs of a sector that is expected to be worth more than £56bn by the end of 2019.”

“By merging Silbury and Portal we have created a single company with a wider product range and unified quality control procedures across all areas of production and sourcing.

Mr Hall said that the plans to expand manufacturing would ultimately lead to an increase in the size of the joint workforce.

“As a 100% British owned business we are committed to developing our production facilities here in the UK,” he said.

“Investment in manufacturing and logistics will be a key focus moving forward, giving us greater control over our supply chain and providing our customers with the provenance they expect and demand.”

“Integration will happen gradually over a period of time and will ultimately see innovation in both new product development and packaging design,” he explained.

Silbury was advised on the deal by a cross departmental team led by Martin Frost of York, Leeds and Sheffield-based commercial law firm Lupton Fawcett Denison Till.

Mr Frost said: “The deal brings together two well known and respected companies in the food industry, which will provide a great platform for the merged company to continue to serve their customers and grow the business.”