U K
The information below comes from the
UK Activity Report.
Chillspeed R&M, the fish distribution company, is to go into liquidation and most of the business will be taken over by Frigecosse. 20-Dec-2000
EU fisheries ministers have agreed to reduce cod and hake catches by up to 50%, prompting concern that up to 1,000 jobs could be lost in north-east Scotland. 18-Dec-2000
Hazlewood Foods is to shed 80 jobs at a pizza factory in Bedford early next year, due to the introduction of new automation. 15-Dec-2000
Geest is seeking permission to set up a chilled food manufacturing facility at its site in Barton, North Lincolnshire, with the creation of up to 100 jobs. 15-Dec-2000
United Biscuits is to invest £1.2m in the modernisation of its KP Snacks plant in Consett, which will safeguard more than 200 jobs. 14-Dec-2000
Granada Compass is planning to double its share of the outsourced global catering market over the next five years, and has also confirmed plans to demerge its media operations in February. 14-Dec-2000
Granada Compass is to close the Granada catering accounts centre in Stockport in 2002 with the loss of 250 jobs, in order to transfer the work to the Compass centre in Birmingham. 13-Dec-2000
Perkins Foods has received a takeover approach from an unnamed financial buyer. 13-Dec-2000
Granada Compass has won a five-year catering contract from Sainsbury that will involve taking over the staff restaurants at 427 supermarkets. 13-Dec-2000
Riverside Foods is planning to set up a smoked seafoods and meats factory at Frizington in Cumbria. 08-Dec-2000
Fyffes is to shed 200 jobs as part of an overhaul of its Geest banana business, which will involve the closure of ripening centres in Leicestershire and Wiltshire and job cuts at the Southampton head office. 07-Dec-2000
Premier Brands, the tea company, is planning to relocate its support functions, including sales, logistics, marketing, purchasing, finance and systems from Merseyside to Long Sutton or Histon, Cambridgeshire. 07-Dec-2000
Stolt Sea Farm is planning a £1m expansion of its salmon hatchery in the Bays area of the Isle of Harris. 06-Dec-2000
Swankie Food Products is to close its fish processing factory in Arbroath with the loss of 30 jobs, as new owners John Law Frozen Seafoods and Joseph Robertson plan to transfer production to Aberdeen. 06-Dec-2000
Diageo has announced plans to relocate the sales and marketing operations of Guinness UDV from Harlow to the Guinness brewery site in Park Royal, London, by April 2002. 04-Dec-2000
Yorkshire Dales Ice Cream is to close its ice-cream factory near Skipton with the loss of 50 jobs due to the effect of recent flooding, and is now looking for an alternative site. 29-Nov-2000
Abacus Frozen Foods is seeking a buyer for its fish processing factory at Mintlaw near Peterhead, in order to save 112 jobs. 28-Nov-2000
Unilever is to relocate it safety research laboratory from Port Sunlight to Bedford next September, which will affect 60 jobs. 24-Nov-2000
Hydro Seafood has announced plans for a £1.5m modernisation programme at its South Shian processing plant near Oban, which will result in the loss of 32 jobs. 24-Nov-2000
Dairy Crest is to build a new dairy in the west of England and invest £15m upgrading its Chadwell Heath plant in east London, but other sites in west London and Northern Ireland will be closed. 17-Nov-2000
Allied Domecq has bought the US distribution rights for Stolichnaya, the leading vodka brand, for up to £50m. 17-Nov-2000
Hibernia Foods is creating 52 new jobs at its ready meals factory in Hartlepool. 16-Nov-2000
Mayur Foods has completed a £5m expansion into larger premises in Leicester, in order to produce Indian ethnic breads for supermarket chains. 15-Nov-2000
Uniq is to close its Malton Bacon Factory in Middlesbrough in February with the loss of 450 jobs. 13-Nov-2000
Axis Milk is in negotiations to acquire Aeron Valley Cheese from Milk Marque. 13-Nov-2000
Express Dairies is to form a liquid milk joint venture with Golden Vale to reduce excess capacity in Northern Ireland, which will involve the closure of Golden Vale's Lurgan plant and the transfer of production to Express's Ballymena plant. 13-Nov-2000
Hi-Peak Feeds is to close its corn mill in Derby and move the operation to Killamarsh near Chesterfield, and the historic site will be sold to developers. 10-Nov-2000
Unilever is to locate a new IT centre at Ewloe in Wales, which will involve 200 new jobs and the transfer of 170 jobs from nearby Port Sunlight. 10-Nov-2000
Diageo has opened the new Cameronbridge Distillery in Windygates following a £9m renovation, and it will produce up to 30m litres of spirits a year. 09-Nov-2000
Associated British Foods has announced a £130m exceptional charge to rationalise its business, which will involve acquisitions and the sale of commodity operations. 09-Nov-2000
Hazlewood Foods is to start production at a new £15m sandwich factory in Worksop later this month, and it will employ 1,500 staff when fully operational next March. 08-Nov-2000
The National Assembly for Wales is supporting plans from a new farmers' co-operative called The Welsh Meat Company to set up two meat processing plants at Horeb in Ceredigion and at Caernarfon in Gwynedd. 08-Nov-2000
Dawnfresh Seafoods is to create about 60 jobs at a new £10m fish factory in Uddingston, which replaces a plant destroyed by fire last year. 08-Nov-2000
Bon Bon Buddies has received a £1.5m investment from 3i in order to finance the expansion of its novelty confectionery business into the US. 08-Nov-2000
Springbar has opened a new watercooler supply business in Watford, which includes a bottling plant, customer service and distribution facilities. 07-Nov-2000
Freshpack is looking to recruit up to 30 staff for its new frozen food packing unit in Alsager. 07-Nov-2000
J&K Meats has closed its meat processing business in Sunderland with the loss of 113 jobs. 06-Nov-2000
Moy Park is to invest £14m in the expansion of its three food factories at Craigavon, Moira and Dungannon, with the creation of up to 200 jobs. 02-Nov-2000
Coldwater Seafood is setting up a new company in Grimsby called Coldwater Shellfish, which will produce shellfish for the retail and catering markets. 01-Nov-2000
Allied Domecq is planning to spend an additional £5m on product development this year, in an attempt to compete with rival products in the ready-to-drink market. 01-Nov-2000
Pro-Pak Foods is seeking permission from Ryedale District Council to move its chilled foods factory and 140 staff to a larger site in Malton, with the creation of an unspecified number of new jobs. 31-Oct-2000
Allied Bakeries is to close its Aberdeen depot next summer with the loss of 28 jobs. 30-Oct-2000
Hazlewood Foods is to open a 230,000 sq ft bakery in Hull early next year, in order to supply major retailers across Europe. 30-Oct-2000
WD Irwin & Sons is planning to invest £3.4m at its bakery in Portadown with the creation of about 50 jobs. 27-Oct-2000
Bernard Matthews, the poultry products company, has received a £232m takeover offer from its original founder, but Sara Lee of the US may launch a rival bid. 27-Oct-2000
Hazlewood Foods, the sandwiches and ready meals group, is considering a number of takeover approaches, including offers backed by Schroder Ventures and Legal & General Ventures. 26-Oct-2000
Golden Vale is planning to create a further 40 jobs over the next two years at its recently-opened Rye Valley frozen ready meals factory in Enniskillen. 18-Oct-2000
Dailycer is to set up a £4.5m cereal bar factory at the Deeside Industrial Park next year with the creation of 34 jobs, but an existing plant in Chester will be closed. 18-Oct-2000
GC Hahn, the German manufacturer of food stabilisers, has opened a new £0.5m food technology centre at its UK headquarters on the Mold Business Park. 18-Oct-2000
Ideal Bakeries is to close its van sales depots at Johnston and Aberystwyth in Wales with the loss of 40 jobs. 18-Oct-2000
S&A Foods is to recruit an additional 100 workers at its ready meals factory in Derby. 17-Oct-2000
Unilever has put the recently-acquired US bakery division of Bestfoods up for sale, which could raise up to $2bn. 17-Oct-2000
Northern Foods is to close its two R&K Wise cake factories in Swindon with the loss of 540 jobs, and production will be transferred to sites in Oldham and Bolton. 12-Oct-2000
Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries has announced plans for a strategic review, which is expected to lead to the sale of all or part of the company. 10-Oct-2000
De Vere is to close five more of its Tavern drinks wholesaling depots in Stoke, Honiton, Redruth, Glasgow and Edinburgh, in order to stem losses. 05-Oct-2000
Colchester Institute is planning to develop a new £5m catering centre to improve facilities for students. 04-Oct-2000
Jacobs Bakery is to shed 60 of the 600 jobs at its factory in South Wigston, Leicestershire, in order to focus on the production of tins of assorted biscuits. 04-Oct-2000
Virgin Wine is planning to invest £10m in its home delivery wine operation, in preparation for a possible flotation in 2002. 02-Oct-2000
Brake Bros has shed about 35 jobs at its recently-acquired Cearns & Brown frozen food warehouse in Runcorn. 29-Sep-2000
Branston Potatoes is investing £1m at its vegetable packing plant in Lincolnshire, with the creation of 50 new jobs. 29-Sep-2000
Cadbury Schweppes is in negotiations to buy the Orangina soft drinks business from Pernod Ricard of France for £450m. 29-Sep-2000
Unilever has agreed to sell a number of brands - including Oxo, Royco, Lesieur, Bla Bland, Batchelor's and McDonnells - in order to win European approval for its £14bn acquisition of Bestfoods of the US. 29-Sep-2000
Granada Compass is acquiring a 49% stake in Levy Restaurants, the US catering company, for £53m. 28-Sep-2000
Mission Foods is looking to recruit 40 new employees at its tortilla chips factory in Coventry, following a rise in sales. 20-Sep-2000
Tesco is investing £0.5m in an organic farming research project at Newcastle University, and is already funding a similar scheme at Aberdeen University. 14-Sep-2000
Cadbury Schweppes has bought Pepsi Cola Bottlers Australia for a sum thought to be about £34m. 14-Sep-2000
East Staffordshire Borough Council has approved plans from Ranks Hovis McDougall for the development of a £30m flour processing plant in Burton, which will create up to 200 jobs. 13-Sep-2000
Horticultural Research International is to close its Stockbridge House research centre near Selby in North Yorkshire next March, with the loss of 50 jobs. 12-Sep-2000
Inter Link Foods is to build a new bakery in Blackburn, with the creation of up to 150 jobs over the next two years. 12-Sep-2000
Tewkesbury Borough Council is to consider plans from Hamilton's, the chartered surveyors, for the development of a £5.5m livestock market at Innsworth. 11-Sep-2000
S Daniels is planning to export its New Covent Garden Soup franchise to continental Europe and launch a lower-cost Soup Stall franchise in high traffic locations. 11-Sep-2000
Efdex, the online market for the food and drinks industry, is going into liquidation having failed to raise further funds. 08-Sep-2000
Speciality Sauce Company of Gwent has been acquired by Shoda Shoyu of Japan, resulting in new investment at its Welsh plant. 07-Sep-2000
Eurobuns has awarded a £3.6m contract to Marriott to build a fast-food production and storage facility in Milton Keynes. 07-Sep-2000
Plymouth City Council is considering plans from Direct Wines to build a wine delivery call centre at the new Plymouth International Business Park, with the creation of 260 jobs. 06-Sep-2000
W&J Parker has moved its Parker Fine Food Services catering division to a new £2m site in Beaumont Leys, and is recruiting staff for a new contract with Birmingham's NEC. 31-Aug-2000
BGR is planning to open 24 new Fish! restaurants over the next two years, and is in discussions to sell its Signature outlets to a private consortium. 31-Aug-2000
Nutravida.com, the online natural health products company with 12 employees, is to wind itself up unless further funding can be secured. 31-Aug-2000
South Derbyshire District Council is to consider plans from Amelca, a new company formed by 150 dairy farmers, to build a £18m dairy products factory at Hilton, with the creation of up to 300 jobs. 24-Aug-2000
Andrews Feeds and United Dairy Farmers are forming a joint venture called United Feeds to supply animal feeds in Northern Ireland, which is expected to result in the closure of an existing Andrews Feeds plant with the loss of 20 jobs. 24-Aug-2000
Christian Salvesen is to shed 60 jobs at its cold store and vegetable packing plant in Grimsby, following a fall in sales. 23-Aug-2000
Bass is to complete the sale of its beer division to Interbrew of Belgium for £2.3bn following a European Commission decision not to intervene, and the company now plans to sell its controlling stake in the Britvic soft drinks business. 23-Aug-2000
Diageo and Pernod Ricard are planning to launch a joint takeover bid for Seagram's wine and spirits business, which could be valued at up to £6bn. 21-Aug-2000
Bonds Confectionery is setting up a new factory at Huthwaite in Nottinghamshire which will secure 72 jobs, as its previous site in Annesley was too large. 17-Aug-2000
Greencore has announced plans to set up a £13m Canadian Pizza factory on Deeside, north Wales, with the creation of 230 jobs. 17-Aug-2000
Glanbia has formed a joint venture with Leprino Foods of the US to target the European pizza cheese market, and they will operate two facilities in Magheralin, Co Armagh and Llangeffni in Wales. 16-Aug-2000
Transit Express, the Grimsby-based fish transport company, has ceased trading due to the cost of fuel and a shortage of fish, with the loss of about 50 jobs. 11-Aug-2000
Nottingham Processing Company has closed its abattoir with the loss of 34 jobs, but the Meadow Lane site will continue to operate as a meat wholesaling business. 11-Aug-2000
Mighty Oak Brewing Company is looking to relocate its small Essex brewery from Hutton to a larger facility at nearby Maldon. 09-Aug-2000
Cavaghan & Gray has won approval to start building a £5.5m frozen food factory in Carlisle in January, as part of a reorganisation of its facilities. 08-Aug-2000
Unilever is to reorganise its business into two global divisions, one for foods and the other for home and personal care, in order to improve decision-making and innovation. 07-Aug-2000
Cadbury Schweppes is considering plans to make acquisitions outside its core business areas of confectionery and beverages, and could spend up to £3bn. 27-Jul-2000
Unigate is to change its name to Uniq, and is considering plans to demerge its Wincanton logistics business and possibly sell its Malton Foods pork processing business. 27-Jul-2000
GBL International has relocated its drinks distribution business from Chesterfield to Clay Cross, following the success of its range of vodka drinks. 27-Jul-2000
S&A Foods has won planning permission to build an ethnic meals factory on the Lymedale business park in Newcastle-under-Lyme, but alternative sites around the country are also being considered. 27-Jul-2000
Golden Vale is to expand production at its Rye Valley frozen ready meals plant in Co Fermanagh over the next two years, with the creation of 80 jobs. 27-Jul-2000
Jennings Brothers is planning to create a visitor centre at its brewery in Cockermouth. 27-Jul-2000
The Ministry of Agriculture is to shed 1,400 jobs in a reorganisation of its network of offices dealing with subsidy claims from farmers, and five of the nine regional centres will be closed or reduced in size. 25-Jul-2000
Bakery Services is planning to expand across the north and midlands following the acquisition of Don Miller's franchised bakeries. 21-Jul-2000
Nestle is shedding 70 of the 270 jobs at its coffee making plant at Tutbury, near Burton, as part of a reorganisation programme that will see the company invest in new filling and packing equipment. 21-Jul-2000
Roche is investing £30m at its vitamin C plant at Dalry in Ayrshire, which will involve new equipment and the creation of 25 jobs. 21-Jul-2000
R Croan & Sons is looking to recruit 300 workers at its smoked seafoods factory in Edinburgh. 19-Jul-2000
Diageo is to cut about 200 jobs at its Guinness operation in Dundalk, and a further 40 at its Runcorn packaging site. 17-Jul-2000
Lingarden and Nationwide Produce Holdings have formed a new vegetable processing company called Verdian, based at Lingarden's site near Spalding. 17-Jul-2000
Expatshopping.com is creating 30 new jobs in York, having won a contract with British Forces Post Offices to send food products to overseas bases. 17-Jul-2000
Allied Bakeries is to close Reid's Bakery in Coleraine later this year, with the loss of 38 jobs. 17-Jul-2000
HP Bulmer is looking to win beer distribution contracts in order to benefit from the recent consolidation in the brewing sector, and is also aiming to get its cider products into more overseas markets. 11-Jul-2000
Brakspear is planning to increase capacity at its Oxfordshire brewery by 25% following a £0.8m investment programme. 11-Jul-2000
Tomos Watkin has opened its new brewery in Swansea, as part of a £10m expansion that will create 150 jobs over the next five years. 06-Jul-2000
Cardiff County Council and Portfolio Holdings have launched the Capital Business Park on a 76-acre site at Wentloog, which has the potential to create up to 1,000 jobs in the food, science and technology sectors. 05-Jul-2000
Coffee Republic has announced a £11m share issue to fund a further 80 outlets over the next two years. 30-Jun-2000
Fishworks is planning to raise £0.8m in a listing on Ofex next month in order to fund the opening of four new restaurants in the south-west. 26-Jun-2000
Diageo is planning to float Burger King on the New York Stock Exchange in order to raise up to £3bn, with the first 20% being floated within 12 months. 23-Jun-2000
Aramark is planning to form a joint venture company with Campbell Catering, which would create a combined catering group with £350m turnover and about 900 accounts. 23-Jun-2000
Seagram is expected to sell off its nine Scottish distilleries, which employ about 700 people, following the merger of its Canadian parent with Vivendi. 22-Jun-2000
Perkins Frozen Foods is planning to rebuild its chicken convenience foods factory in Cleator Moor following a fire last week, and the 51 workers will be given temporary jobs at its other sites in Penrith and Shap. 20-Jun-2000
Peter Hunt's Bakery Foods is to invest £2.5m to expand output, due to rising demand for own label savoury products. 19-Jun-2000
Iceland is to spend £8m a year providing organic produce in its stores at no extra cost to the consumer, and will stock only organic vegetables by October. 15-Jun-2000
Hazlewood Foods is planning to close or sell a significant number of its 40 sites, as part of an ongoing restructuring programme that has already resulted in the disposal of 17 sites. 14-Jun-2000
SmithKline Beecham is investing £6m in a new bottling centre for Lucozade and Ribena at its Forest of Dean factory. 13-Jun-2000
John Lusty Group has combined its Wunderbar division with sister company Ryner Quality Confectionery to create a £11m confectionery group. 12-Jun-2000
Authentic Food Company is planning to build a £10m ethnic food factory near Manchester Airport. 12-Jun-2000
Unilever is planning to sell off its European and UK baking products business, and discussions are taking place with CSM of the Netherlands, Associated British Foods, and a number of private equity firms. 08-Jun-2000
Nottingham City Council is supporting plans for the development of a new business park dedicated to food companies on a six acre site at Southglade. 07-Jun-2000
Unigate is looking to spend up to £300m on acquisitions to expand its convenience foods and logistics business, and is considering plans to change its name following the recent sale of its dairy business. 06-Jun-2000
East Riding of Yorkshire Council is considering plans from Heron Frozen Foods for the development of a new headquarters and warehouse at North Cave, which will create 31 jobs. 05-Jun-2000
Hart Worldwide has opened a £3m apple and pear packing facility in Peterborough, with the creation of 100 jobs. 05-Jun-2000
Hazlewood Foods is to relocate its sandwich factory and offices in Worksop to a new £20m purpose-built facility in October, with the creation of 300 jobs. 05-Jun-2000
AG Barr has started work on the construction of a new Irn-Bru soft drinks blending plant at its Westfield site in Cumbernauld. 05-Jun-2000
Northern Foods has confirmed plans to close its Rawmarsh Foods subsidiary in Rotherham with the loss of more than 300 jobs, and production of the chilled dairy products will be moved to an Eden Vale subsidiary in Shropshire next year. 02-Jun-2000
Bass has announced plans to close offices at the Cape Hill brewery site in Smethwick, and staff will be relocated to a new building in Birmingham city centre in 2002. 02-Jun-2000
Hull City Council is to contribute to the £4.1m cost of building a new fish market at Albert Dock, and the Hull Fish Auction consortium expects work to start in January. 01-Jun-2000
United Milk is planning to build a new milk processing facility on a 30-acre site near Westbury in Wiltshire, employing 100 people. 31-May-2000
Daintee Confectionery is to merge with sister company Tavener's of Liverpool to create a new group called Toms Confectionery. 31-May-2000
Sun Valley Foods is to sell its turkey processing plant in Abergavenny to Brandons Poultry, in order to focus on chicken products. 31-May-2000
Allied Bakeries is to close its bakery in Ipswich over the next 12 months, with the loss of 220 jobs. 25-May-2000
Diageo is in discussions to acquire the bakery business of Bestfoods, as part of the US company's defence against Unilever's takeover approach. 23-May-2000
Robert Wiseman Dairies is looking to acquire small independent dairies, in order to increase its 7% share of the English milk market and fill the new £32m dairy being built in Droitwich. 23-May-2000
The Welsh Development Agency has announced that the Burger Manufacturing Company is to set up a meat processing factory at the Wyeside Enterprise Park in Builth Wells, with the creation of 65 jobs. 19-May-2000
Sainsbury is to hold an online auction to choose a supplier of mild cheddar cheese, and will then use the GlobalNetXchange system to buy other products for its 432 stores. 19-May-2000
Glenmorangie is forming an alliance with Brown-Forman in which the US-based drinks group will distribute Glenmorangie's whiskies in continental Europe, South America and Australasia. 18-May-2000
Bernard Matthews, the poultry products company, is considering plans to sell the business back to the Matthews family in a deal worth about £224m. 17-May-2000
Cadbury Schweppes is considering plans to bid for parts of Nabisco, the US tobacco and cookies group. 17-May-2000
Allied Domecq is to close its Glencadam whisky distillery in Brechin, Angus, in September, due to overcapacity. 17-May-2000
Granada and Compass are planning to merge to create a combined catering and hotels group called Granada Compass, while Granada's media operations would eventually be separated off. 16-May-2000
ConAgra is to close its UK frozen food division with the loss of 65 jobs, but the Chadderton plant will continue to produce microwave popcorn. 15-May-2000
The government is seeking advice from hotel chains about how to improve catering facilities in hospitals, which could lead to patients being able to order food at any time. 12-May-2000
Jennings Brothers has sold two recently-acquired Burlingtons Restaurants near Preston to a new company called Burlingtons Dining Rooms & Bar for £1.6m. 12-May-2000
Kepac is planning a £1.75m expansion at its meat processing plant at Bamber Bridge in Lancashire, with the creation of 50 jobs. 09-May-2000
Allied Domecq is looking to acquire new vodka and white rum brands and also aims to expand its business in developing markets such as Asia. 05-May-2000
Farne Salmon is planning to concentrate its smoked salmon business at its factory in Duns, which would mean the closure of its satellite operation at Galashiels and the transfer of 45 workers. 05-May-2000
Colchester & East Essex Co-operative Society is to close the milk processing plant at its New Town dairy in Colchester with the loss of 42 jobs, and production will transfer to Ipswich. 04-May-2000
Unilever has launched a £11.3bn takeover bid for Bestfoods, but the approach was rejected by the US consumer foods company as being financially inadequate. 03-May-2000
Keith Spicer is to close its Big T teabag factory at Newtown in Powys with the loss of 65 jobs, and production will move to another site in Dorset. 03-May-2000
Golden Vale has sold its 66% stake in Vejle Margarinefabrik, the Danish margarine company, to Puratos of Belgium. 02-May-2000
British Cattle Movement Service is to continue to create new jobs at its facility in Workington, and may launch a similar service for sheep and goat information. 28-Apr-2000
John Rannoch, the Suffolk-based ready meals company, is to invest £3m in the expansion of its capacity over the next two years, with the creation of 100 jobs. 25-Apr-2000
Malton Bacon Factory has announced plans to build a new £20m meat products factory at its site in North Yorkshire, with the creation of up to 60 jobs. 25-Apr-2000
Baxters has confirmed plans to spend £10m on a new chilled soups factory in Grimsby with the creation of up to 200 jobs, while £3m will be spent on the expansion of its headquarters at Fochabers. 25-Apr-2000
J Welch & Sons, the North Shields-based confectionery factory, has closed with the loss of 35 jobs. 25-Apr-2000
Guinness is to shed about 100 jobs at its Park Royal brewery in west London, as part of a strategic review of the site. 19-Apr-2000
Whitbread is considering plans to sell its brewing business for about £400m, having asked Dresdner Kleinwort Benson to examine its strategic options. 17-Apr-2000
Whitworths, the home baking products company, is considering plans to close its Warrington factory and transfer production to Northamptonshire. 17-Apr-2000
Yorkshire Forward has bought 85 acres of land at the disused Sherburn-in-Elmet airfield for £4.5m, in order to develop a new business park for the food industry that could create up to 3,000 jobs. 14-Apr-2000
Samworth Brothers is to expand production at its Bradgate Bakery sandwich factory in Leicester, with the creation of more than 100 jobs. 13-Apr-2000
Greene King, the Suffolk-based brewery, is to close its storage depot in Rayleigh, in order to set up a 60,000 sq ft distribution centre in Crayford, near Dartford. 12-Apr-2000
Shetland Catch is planning a £6m expansion at its Gremista fish factory in Lerwick. 11-Apr-2000
Golden Wonder, the manufacturer of snacks, is being put up for sale by Legal & General Ventures for £100m, having dropped plans for a flotation. 10-Apr-2000
Ushers has failed to agree a management buy-out, and the Wiltshire brewery is now expected to close with the loss of 185 jobs. 07-Apr-2000
Robinson Group is to close its Wells soft drinks plant at Swan Valley in Northampton, with the loss of 140 jobs. 06-Apr-2000
Marine Harvest is to invest £1.6m at its fish processing plant in Lochaber with the creation of 25 jobs, while its main plant in Fort William will also be upgraded. 05-Apr-2000
Geo Adams has invested £6m in a new meat and pastry factory in Boston, and a further £1.5m on production improvements at its Spalding site. 03-Apr-2000
North Devon District Council is to consider plans from Advanced Marketing Services to develop commercial greenhouses at Yelland, employing more than 150 staff and using waste heat from a proposed gas-fired power station. 03-Apr-2000
Shepherd Neame has launched a £17m takeover bid for King & Barnes, the Sussex-based brewer. 30-Mar-2000
Lerwick Fish Traders, the Shetland-based fish processing business, is to shed 40 of its 65 jobs, so that parent company Laschinger Group can transfer some production to Germany. 30-Mar-2000
Branston Potatoes is to close its packing plant in Kirton Lindsey with the loss of 70 jobs, and production will be transferred to other sites near Lincoln and in Somerset. 30-Mar-2000
Unigate is to close its St Ivel chocolate desserts factory in Chichester next year with the loss of 182 jobs, as part of a £79m restructuring programme that will also involve the disposal of its French desserts operation. 29-Mar-2000
Anglo Beef Processors is to close its lamb processing plant at Bathgate in southern Scotland. 28-Mar-2000
Unilever is considering plans to sell off its European bakery division, having received a number of expressions of interest for the business. 27-Mar-2000
Bass is planning to pull out of a brewing joint venture in China by selling its 55% stake to local partner Ginsber. 27-Mar-2000
Tulip International is to relocate its processed meat production from Wellingborough to King's Lynn with the loss of more than 100 jobs. 27-Mar-2000
Bernard Matthews is to close its lossmaking French poultry products business, but its factories in Germany and Hungary will be retained. 23-Mar-2000
Robert Wiseman Dairies has announced a £225m cash offer for Unigate's milk and cheese business, which rivals the previously-agreed deal between Unigate and Dairy Crest. 23-Mar-2000
Golden Wonder is creating a further 40 jobs at its snack food factory in Scunthorpe, following a £3m investment to produce crisps in tubes. 23-Mar-2000
Campden & Chorleywood Food Research has awarded a £3.5m contract to Pettifer for the construction of a food laboratory in Chipping Campden. 23-Mar-2000
Charcuterie Continental is planning to build a £1m factory in Glasgow to produce sausages, meats and pizza toppings. 23-Mar-2000
Fyffes, the fresh produce company, is looking to spend up to £60m on the development of its business-to-business e-commerce projects over the next two years. 21-Mar-2000
Ethnic Cuisine has awarded a £4m contract to Ballast Wiltshier to build a prepared meals factory in Swansea. 16-Mar-2000
Britvic Soft Drinks is creating 40 new jobs at its factory in Chelmsford, in preparation for the launch of a new series of products. 16-Mar-2000
Tavern is to close its soft drinks depot in Kelso with the loss of 28 jobs, and the work will be transferred to other depots in Edinburgh and Glasgow. 16-Mar-2000
Unilever is looking to shed up to 185 of the 1,150 jobs at its Birds Eye Wall's ice cream factory in Gloucester over the next two years, as part of an ongoing efficiency programme. 15-Mar-2000
Glenfarm Holdings of Northern Ireland has acquired a controlling stake in Fat & Proteins, the Lancaster-based animal by-products rendering plant. 15-Mar-2000
North Devon Meat is planning to set up a new £0.5m pork boning facility at its plant in Torrington. 14-Mar-2000
Penguin Confectionery is to close its confectionery factory in Sheffield with the loss of up to 100 jobs, due to the loss of key contracts. 13-Mar-2000
Virgin is planning to launch an online wine business called Virginwines.com, selling up to 8,000 labels at discount prices. 10-Mar-2000
Cromer Crab Company is to open a £3.8m shellfish processing factory in Cromer, Norfolk, later this year, with the creation of 65 jobs. 10-Mar-2000
Laurens Patisseries is to create 300 jobs at its factory in Newark, having won a contract to supply desserts to Tesco. 10-Mar-2000
Thorntons, the chocolate manufacturer and retailer, is planning to spin off its internet, mail order, and interactive TV operations. 08-Mar-2000
Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries is to cut 200 office jobs at the recently-acquired Mansfield Brewery over the next few months. 08-Mar-2000
Compass has won a £1.2bn contract to supply catering services to IBM in the US until 2030. 07-Mar-2000
Unigate has acquired an organic dairy facility at Thornbury in South Gloucestershire, to produce organic milk for large retailers. 07-Mar-2000
Brake Bros has won a £30m-a-year contract to supply food to the JD Wetherspoon chain of pubs, and will dedicate its Puritan Maid depot at Broughton Astley to the business. 06-Mar-2000
Wrigley is to shed 38 of the 700 jobs at its gum factory in Plymouth. 06-Mar-2000
Malton Foods is to close its pork processing factory at Ahoghill, County Antrim, in June, as part of a reorganisation that will result in the loss of up to 300 jobs at its Northern Ireland operations. 06-Mar-2000
Gafoor Poultry Products is to build a new £2m halal poultry products factory in Preston, with the creation of more than 40 jobs. 03-Mar-2000
Welsh Whisky is preparing to open its new distillery at Penderyn, near Hirwaun, which will create 25 jobs. 03-Mar-2000
Dessert Company is planning to close its chilled desserts factory in Newark in April with the loss of 700 jobs, following the loss of a contract from Tesco. 03-Mar-2000
Lightbody of Hamilton is planning a £3m expansion of its cakes factory in Hamilton. 02-Mar-2000
S&A Foods is considering a number of potential sites in Derbyshire to build a new ready-made meals factory, which will create up to 700 jobs. 01-Mar-2000
Heinz is to cut 100 administrative jobs at Ross House in Grimsby, but the nearby San Marco pizza factory will be transformed into one of its leading manufacturing sites. 01-Mar-2000
Grampian Country Foods is to shed 500 of the 1,200 jobs at its chicken processing factory at Newbridge, near Edinburgh, but 110 extra staff will be recruited at its sites in Coupar Angus, Perth and Kinross. 01-Mar-2000
AG Barr is considering plans to launch a franchise operation to sell its Irn-Bru soft drink in the US. 29-Feb-2000
British Cattle Movement Service is to create 80 new jobs at the Derwent Howe Centre in Workington. 29-Feb-2000
Farne Salmon is creating an additional 60 jobs at its smoked salmon business in Duns. 29-Feb-2000
Plymouth Gin has sold a 50% stake in its spirits business to Vin & Sprit of Sweden for undisclosed terms, and is also planning a major expansion into the US market. 28-Feb-2000
Unigate, the chilled and convenience foods company, is said to be facing the prospect of a takeover bid from venture capital firm Candover. 24-Feb-2000
Unigate is planning to build a £3m blowmoulding facility and processing building at its milk depot in London's Shepherd's Bush. 24-Feb-2000
Unilever is planning to close 100 plants and cut 25,000 jobs in Europe and North America, as part of a restructuring programme designed to focus manufacturing on 150 key sites and save £1bn a year. 23-Feb-2000
Tomkins has shortlisted four private equity firms in the auction for its Ranks Hovis McDougall food business - CVC Capital Partners, Hicks Muse Tate & Furst, Doughty Hanson and Paribas Affaires Industrielles. 23-Feb-2000
Unigate has closed a sauces factory in Bradford, and transferred production to a plant near Rochdale. 21-Feb-2000
Unilever is to scale down its Birds Eye Wall's next-day ice cream delivery service, following a report from the Competition Commission that is expected to lead to the capping of its market share. 21-Feb-2000
Bass has announced plans to sell its brewing division, which could fetch about £1.8bn, in order to focus on international hotels and leisure retailing. 18-Feb-2000
Bradford Metropolitan District Council has approved plans from Princes to build a soft drinks warehouse at Toftshaw Lane in Bradford, with the creation of 50 jobs. 18-Feb-2000
Dromona Quality Foods is to shed 35 jobs at its cultured dairy products business in Bangor, in order to transfer production and distribution to other sites. 18-Feb-2000
Granada is to restructure its contract catering business into three divisions, and the Granada Food Services banner will be dropped with the loss of about 30 jobs. 18-Feb-2000
Youngs Bluecrest is to invest £5m in the upgrade of its fish processing factory at Marsden Road in Grimsby, but another factory in Hull will be closed with the loss of up to 176 jobs. 17-Feb-2000
The NI Fishery Harbour Authority has announced plans for the £6m refurbishment of fish production facilities at the fishing ports Ardgass, Kilkeel and Portavogie. 17-Feb-2000
Cadbury Schweppes is looking to spend up to £3bn on acquisitions, in order to expand its food and soft drinks operations. 17-Feb-2000
Tom Hoskins is to auction the historic Beaumanor Brewery in Leicester later this month, in order to focus on its pubs business. 14-Feb-2000
HP Bulmer has agreed a deal with Sinebrychoff for the production and bottling of its Woodpecker cider in Finland. 11-Feb-2000
Granada Food Services and Cremonini of Italy have won a £40m a year contract to provide food on Eurostar trains, through a joint venture company called Momentum. 08-Feb-2000
Northern Foods has acquired a 40% stake in Solway Foods, the supplier of sandwiches and salads, for £16m. 08-Feb-2000
Fine Lady Bakery has warned that jobs will be lost among its 400-strong workforce in Banbury, following the loss of a contract to supply bread to Tesco. 04-Feb-2000
Ribble Valley Council has approved plans for the development of a £2m high-tech dairy farm at Withgill Fold. 03-Feb-2000
Western Isles Enterprise is supporting a £3.7m project by Smolt Seafarm to build a salmon processing plant on Scalpay with the creation of up to 80 jobs. 03-Feb-2000
Universal Kelvin, the offshore catering company, has won £150m worth of contracts from Shell Expro and Marathon that should secure the future of more than 600 North Sea jobs. 02-Feb-2000
Russell Burgess of Peterborough and Sutton Bridge of Wisbech are planning a merger that will create a £50m potato growing and packing business. 31-Jan-2000
Unigate is to close its Malton Foods bacon slicing plant in Enniskillen. 31-Jan-2000
Robert Wiseman Dairies is to be investigated by the Competition Commission, because of its dominant position in the Scottish milk market. 28-Jan-2000
Bensons Crisps is to change its name to Snackhouse, and has also announced plans to launch a web site offering bulk purchases of snacks at prices 15% lower than in the shops. 28-Jan-2000
Maldon Crystal Salt Company is seeking permission to build a new sea salt processing, packing and storage plant at the Wycke Hill Business Park on the outskirts of Maldon. 27-Jan-2000
Pataks, the manufacturer of ethnic foods, has started work on the construction of a £10m factory at Leigh in Lancashire. 27-Jan-2000
Hancocks Holdings is to set up a new confectionery wholesale outlet at Vanguard Court in Stockton, with the creation of about 25 jobs. 27-Jan-2000
Northern Foods is to build a £5.5m frozen foods factory in Carlisle, but will close a nearby Cavaghan & Gray meat products factory as well as Rawmarsh Foods in Yorkshire. 26-Jan-2000
Express Dairies is to close a dairy and depot in Birmingham and a distribution facility in Salisbury, with the loss of 370 jobs. 26-Jan-2000
Diageo is planning to set up an internet trading market for its suppliers, in order to combine purchasing budgets across its operations in 200 countries and to negotiate discounts. 25-Jan-2000
Baxters is considering plans to build a fresh soups factory in Grimsby, with the creation of 200 jobs. 24-Jan-2000
NFU Mutual is providing finance to the Triple S Ranch farmers co-operative for the construction of a £2m beef processing plant at Heathfield, which could create up to 150 jobs. 21-Jan-2000
Hazlewood Foods is to combine its three Beaverlac cake factories in Hull into a new £15m purpose-built factory on Sutton Fields industrial estate next year, with the creation of up to 200 jobs. 20-Jan-2000
Lordswood Dairy has bought the retail distribution division of Wessex Dairies, which employs 160 people in the supply of milk and other dairy products. 19-Jan-2000
Associated Co-operative Creameries is to close its bottling plant in Stockton with the loss of 39 jobs, and production will be transferred to its Blaydon depot. 19-Jan-2000
Ushers may close its Trowbridge brewery with the loss of 230 jobs, unless a management buy-out can be agreed with parent company Rhesus Holdings. 17-Jan-2000
British Sugar is forming a £7m joint venture with Humber Growers to set up glasshouses for growing tomatoes at Wissington in Norfolk, and similar projects are expected at other British Sugar sites. 17-Jan-2000
The Office of Fair Trading is to launch a new investigation into competition in the brewing industry, apparently due to concern about high beer prices. 15-Jan-2000
Brake Bros has won a contract worth £20m a year to supply food to catering company Compass. 13-Jan-2000
Albert Fisher is close to agreeing the sale of its 20% stake in FreshPoint, the North American food distributor, to Sysco, in order to raise about £36m for debt-reduction purposes. 11-Jan-2000
Teesside Wholesale Meat of Marton has closed with the loss of 20 jobs, due to a fall in orders. 08-Jan-2000
Ash Manor Cheese is planning to build a £1m cheese processing facility at its site in Wrexham. 08-Jan-2000
Tomos Watkin is to build a new brewery in Swansea and buy 50 more Welsh pubs over the next four years, in a £10m expansion plan that will create 100 jobs. 07-Jan-2000
Highlands & Islands Enterprise is in discussions with Scanbro Scotland about plans to build a £4m plant to process fish farm waste in the Fort William area, which would create up to 45 jobs. 06-Jan-2000
Carlsberg-Tetley is to close its Wrexham brewery in April, following the recent £40m investment at sites in Northampton and Leeds. 06-Jan-2000
Tomkins has asked potential bidders to prepare offers for its food manufacturing business, which includes brands such as Hovis, Mothers Pride, Bisto and Sharwoods. 03-Jan-2000
The information below comes from the
UK Activity Report.
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