150 jobs saved in Telford's Nom dairy deal
More than 150 jobs were today secured at the Nom dairy in Telford after the business was bought by yoghurt giant Müller Dairy.
The dairy bought the company for an undisclosed fee as part of ambitious plans to expand its yoghurt operation.
Rumours had been circulating that the Telford dairy was up for sale after Nom Dairy UK failed to make sufficient headway in the yoghurt market after opening the £40 million site in Donnington Wood in 2009.
Bosses at Müller Dairy today confirmed they have bought the plant in a bid to become the major private-label yoghurt supplier in the UK. The move will secure all the 155 jobs on the site.
Yoghurts are expected to be made by Müller in Telford for other companies, including branded products for stores including Tesco and Sainsbury's.
Products based at the company's Market Drayton plant will continue to have the Müller brand.
Ronald Kers, chief executive of Müller UK & Ireland Group said: "We want to be the biggest and best dairy company in the UK and by acquiring this excellent facility we can increase the range of private label yogurt products made with milk from British farms.
"We are ambitious for the future and we very much look forward to working with the team at Telford and our customers to realise the significant potential of this facility."
Richard Sheehan, managing director of Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, said: "This is potentially great news and is very exciting for Telford.
"The Muller Dairy group is highly regarded and very active in Shropshire as a whole, employing a lot of people in food and drink, which is a growth sector."
Heiner Kamps, chief executive officer of the parent company Müller Dairy, said: "We believe that there are strong opportunities in the UK private label yoghurt sector and the Telford facility will help us to realise our plans to provide customers with great products in this important market."
