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Northern Foods Northern Foods is setting up a 135,000 sq ft biscuit distribution centre at the 41 Industrial Estate in Wakefield. 15-Sep-2008 Northern Foods is planning to invest £40m in the expansion of its biscuit manufacturing facilities in either Batley or Uttoxeter by 2011, but the other site will close. 30-Jul-2008 Northern Foods is to invest £3m in new production machinery at its Fox's Biscuits factory at Kirkham in Lancashire, but there will be no change to the 500-strong workforce. 30-May-2008 Northern Foods is to close its Fenland Foods ready meals factory in Grantham in August, with the loss of up to 730 jobs, but hopes to reopen the site within three years. 14-May-2008 Northern Foods has acquired a 70,000 sq ft chilled soup factory in Grimsby from Baxters Food Group for undisclosed terms, with the transfer of 48 staff. 14-Jan-2008 Northern Foods has acquired Ethnic Cuisine, the Swansea-based ready meals manufacturer with 350 staff, for undisclosed terms. 23-Nov-2007 Northern Foods is to invest £9.2m in the expansion of its Solways Foods salad ready meals factory in Corby over the next few months, securing the future of the 700-strong workforce. 01-Jun-2007 Northern Foods is to shed 50 of the 550 jobs at its Holland's Pies factory in Baxenden, Lancashire, in order to transfer production of some pastry products to Ireland. 25-Jan-2007 Northern Foods is to shed 260 jobs at the Riverside Bakery in Nottingham, in order to transfer ready meals production and 190 jobs to sites in Sheffield and Carlisle. 11-Jan-2007 Northern Foods is to sell Fletchers Bakeries, Chilled Pastry, Park Cake Bakeries and Smiths Flour Mills to Vision Capital for £160m, including sites in Sheffield, Whitefield, Harlesden, Barnsley, Market Drayton, Nottingham, Trowbridge, Shaftesbury, Trafford Park, Oldham, Bolton, Worksop, Langley Mill and Holbeach. 23-Nov-2006 Northern Foods is to relocate its Nottingham-based technical services department and 49 jobs from Farnsworth House to BioCity in Pennyfoot Street. 27-Sep-2006 Northern Foods is to close its Trafford Park pastry products bakery in Manchester by the end of the year, with the loss of 690 jobs, while 200 jobs will be lost at its Palethorpes pie factory in Market Drayton. 25-Aug-2006 Northern Foods has sold NFT Distribution, the Alfreton-based transport business with 1,200 staff, to a management buy-out backed by Phoenix Equity Partners for £51m. 03-Aug-2006 Northern Foods has suffered a major fire at Fletchers Bakery in Sheffield, but the 650 jobs are said to be secure. 18-Jul-2006 Northern Foods is to shed 400 of the 1,800 jobs at its Park Cakes factory in Oldham. 01-Jun-2006 Northern Foods is looking to sell businesses with combined sales of £580m, including NFT distribution, Smiths flour milling, cakes and pastries. 01-Jun-2006 Northern Foods is planning to sell its NFT chilled distribution business to a management buy-out backed by Phoenix Equity Partners for up to £60m. 02-May-2006 Northern Foods is considering plans to sell off its NFT transport division, and will unveil the results of a strategic review in May. 03-Apr-2006 Northern Foods has won a £30m contract to supply ready meals to Asda, which will create more than 200 jobs at factories in Carlisle, Grantham, Sheffield and Nottingham. 09-Nov-2005 Northern Foods is creating 60 new jobs at the Palethorpes pie factory in Market Drayton, following a £2.3m expansion programme. 05-Aug-2005 Northern Foods has started to recruit financial, administrative and secretarial staff for its new headquarters in Leeds, which will have a total workforce of about 80. 13-Jan-2005 Northern Foods is to create 100 jobs at the Palethorpes manufacturing plant in Market Drayton over the next few months, in order to produce sausage rolls and other products for Marks & Spencer. 29-Nov-2004 Northern Foods is to sell the Cavaghan & Gray Seafood chilled and frozen fish business to IFP Holdings, a subsidiary of Icelandic Group, for £13m, which will involve the transfer of 240 staff based in Grimsby and 150 in Aberdeen. 05-Nov-2004 Northern Foods is to close chilled food factories in Evesham and Carlisle next year, with the loss of 1,000 jobs. 29-Sep-2004 Northern Foods has announced plans to relocate its head office from Hull to Leeds, which will involve the transfer of up to 100 staff to either Leeds or an existing site in Wakefield. 10-Sep-2004 Northern Foods has confirmed that moves are underway to relocate its headquarters away from Hull, and sites are being considered in Sheffield, Doncaster, Leeds and Wakefield. 04-Jun-2004 Uniq is to acquire a chilled desserts manufacturing business in Minsterley, Shropshire, from Northern Foods for £16m, which will involve the transfer of 520 staff. 11-May-2004 Northern Foods' Cavaghan & Gray subsidiary has sold Emile Tissot, the Telford-based frozen ready meals supplier with about 100 staff, to Dawn Fresh Foods for £3.5m. 06-May-2004 Northern Foods is said to be close to agreeing the sale of its Hull headquarters to ING Real Estate to make way for the £160m Ferensway scheme, but there is no indication as to where the 200 staff will be relocated. 14-Apr-2004 Northern Foods is looking to sell its Eden Vale yoghurt and chilled desserts production facility in Shropshire, which is valued at £19m. 26-Jan-2004 Northern Foods is to sell its Batchelors and Beck Smith canned food operations in Ireland to Barry's Tea for £67m. 24-Dec-2003 Northern Foods is planning to centralise its procurement operations and dispose of non-core businesses, such as flour milling, distribution and the Irish Batchelors division. 12-Nov-2003 Northern Foods is to sell its Fox's Confectionery factory in Leicester to a newly-formed company called Big Bear for £9.4m, and is now looking to sell Smiths Flour Mills and Northern Foods Transport. 08-Sep-2003 Northern Foods has acquired the remaining 60% of Solway Foods, the manufacturer of salad meals and sandwiches with factories in Corby and Worksop, in a £27m deal. 01-Jul-2003 Northern Foods is to centralise its IT and financial administration activities at a new department for 80 staff in Wakefield, but 200 jobs will be shed at operating companies throughout the country. 30-May-2003 Northern Foods is investing £2m in a new oven for its Pork Farm Bowyers factory in Trowbridge, in order to increase pie production by 25%. 12-May-2003 Northern Foods is creating up to 150 new jobs at its Palethorpes meat products factory in Market Drayton. 22-Oct-2002 Northern Foods is considering plans to relocate its headquarters and 150 staff to the Island Wharf waterfront site in Hull, but a number of other sites are also being considered. 14-Jun-2002 Severn Trent has won a contract to supply water services to the Bowyers pie factory in Trowbridge, and is expected to win similar deals to supply Northern Foods' remaining 35 plants outside the West Midlands region. 16-Apr-2002 Northern Foods is in discussions to sell its food distribution business and its Smiths Flour Mills subsidiary, in order to focus on higher-value products. 11-Mar-2002 Northern Foods is to sell the Ski yoghurt and Munch Bunch brands, along with its factory at Cuddington in Cheshire, to Nestle for £145m, which will involve the transfer of about 300 staff. 01-Feb-2002 Northern Foods is in negotiations to sell its Pork Farm Bowyers sausage business to Kerry Group of Ireland, and the two companies also plan to merge their van sales operations. 05-Dec-2001 Northern Foods has sold the Lift lemon tea brand to Hicks Muse Tate & Furst of the US for £8.2m. 27-Sep-2001 Northern Foods is creating up to 150 jobs at a new £2.5m food production facility in Trowbridge, which will enable its Bowyers division to produce nut-free meat products. 23-Jul-2001 Northern Foods is to acquire the Fox's mints factory in Leicester from Nestle, but will close its Croydon factory in 2002 with the loss of up to 157 jobs. 15-Mar-2001 Northern Foods is to acquire Lacemont, the Irish company that is building a frozen pizza factory, for £7.4m. 26-Jan-2001 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 Northern Foods has sold its Irish food service and frozen food distribution business to IAWS for £16m, in order to allow its Green Isle Foods division to focus on the development of frozen food retail brands. 21-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 Northern Foods has acquired a 40% stake in Solway Foods, the supplier of sandwiches and salads, for £16m. 08-Feb-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 Northern Foods is to spend £20m transferring quiche production from Nottingham to Manchester and expanding pizza production in Nottingham, while its bread business will be restructured with the loss of 160 jobs in Milton Keynes. 07-Jul-1999 Northern Foods is acquiring Fletcher Bakeries, the Sheffield-based bakery, for £41m. 24-Apr-1999 Northern Foods is said to be considering the future of Dale Farm's Castlereagh ice cream plant in Belfast, prompting speculation that 100 jobs could be lost. 19-Mar-1999 Northern Foods is planning a £47m capital expenditure programme in order to increase the efficiency of a number of production sites. 18-Nov-1998 James Finlay has sold its confectionery business to Northern Foods in a £10m deal that will help finance the development of its tea plantations in Sri Lanka. 27-Jun-1998 Northern Foods has acquired Woodgate Dairies, the East Sussex supplier of milk to supermarkets, for £17m. 21-Feb-1998 Northern Foods is acquiring Cavaghan & Gray, the chilled and frozen food company, for £79m. 18-Feb-1998 Northern Foods has confirmed plans to demerge its Express Dairies division in March, and it is then planning to participate in the expected consolidation of the dairy sector. 27-Jan-1998 Northern Foods is planning to demerge its dairy business which could be worth up to £450m, and a flotation is said to be more likely than a trade sale. 24-Jan-1998 Northern Foods is threatening to undercut the milk prices offered by its competitors in order to maintain market share, raising the prospect of a milk price war. 19-Nov-1997 Northern Foods is to invest £80m a year in prepared foods in order to offset falling margins in the dairy sector, and is looking to acquire European companies involved in biscuits, chilled foods and frozen foods. 11-Jun-1997 Unigate, the dairy products company, has said it is still looking for food acquisitions, possibly in new areas, but has denied reports that it has considered a link with Northern Foods. 20-Nov-1996 Northern Foods is to provide marketing and processing consultancy to Scottish Pride. 17-Jan-1996 Northern Foods has asked for a MMC investigation into the supply and price policies of Milk Marque, the farmers co-operative. 11-Jan-1996 Northern Foods is to close its Hull and Middlesbrough dairies, sell its Colwyn Bay dairy to Longslow Dairy, and transfer its North East operation to ACC in return for ACC's East Midlands business. 26-Oct-1995 The information on this page comes from the UK Activity Report. 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