Finsbury goes on Scottish spending spree

Finsbury Food Group has scooped up a clutch of businesses in Scotland as it builds up its premium cakes and speciality breads empire.

The company, which comprises Memory Lane Cakes in Cardiff and craft baker Nicholas & Harris in Salisbury, today announced the acquisition of Enterprise Food Group (the California Cake Company and Campbell’s Cake Company), plus United Central Bakeries (UCB) in a £9.9m deal bringing the combined turnover of the group to more than £84m.

California Cake Company supplies cake slices to the multiples, including low fat products under the Weight Watchers brand, and turns over £12m from its factory in Coatbridge, near Glasgow. Campbell’s, based near Glasgow at Twechar, supplies cold set products such as shortbread, tiffin and caramel shortcake to the multiples and turns over about £2m.

Bathgate-based UCB makes potato cakes, scones, yum yums, gluten-free breads and other products for the multiples and turns over about £10m a year.

Finsbury chief executive Dave Brooks said the new acquisitions would become independently managed businesses within the group along with Nicholas & Harris and Memory Lane Cakes.

He added: “The businesses will bring new skills and expertise into the group and fit our acquisition criteria of having strong management teams already in place and being the market leaders in their respective fields.”

While the bulk of its business is in own-label, Memory Lane has exclusive rights to produce Nestlé branded cakes and Nicholas & Harris recently struck a three-year licensing deal to produce and sell organic breads under the Village Bakery brand.