Telford's Nom Dairy made £10 million loss before Muller buyout

The dairy, which employes 150, was recently sold to rival Muller for an undisclosed sum, in a move that its previous owners said was for operational reasons.

But the latest accounts for Nom UK show that the site, at Donnington in Telford, had been haemorrhaging cash.

In the year to December 31 2012, the dairy made a loss of £10.68 million, and the year before that it lost £11.73 million. Turnover also fell from £47.8 million in 2011, to £42.6 million last year.

Muller,which is based in Market Drayton, claimed when it took over Nom earlier this month it would would create "greater synergy" between the two companies and clarity for employees.

Nom UK, which owned the Telford dairy, was 85 per cent owned by Austrian investment vehicle Raiffeisen-Holding, with Nom's Austrian parent company owning a further 15 per cent.

Both Nom and Muller today declined to comment on the financial crisis at the Telford dairy.

But Muller spokesman Graeme Jack insisted it had a bright future under the ownership of the Shropshire-based firm.

He added: "We have made clear the potential we see for the facility, and that is for the private label sector of the yoghurt market."

Accounts revealed today suggest that squeezed consumer spending in the UK lay behind Nom's losses in the period, with inflation and uncertainty affecting the amount shoppers spent on dairy products.

It is not the only dairy plant suffering from financial losses.

Wiseman Dairies, which was bought by Market Drayton-based Muller at the beginning of last year, also fell to a loss in the last 11 months of 2012. Wiseman was bought out in a deal worth nearly £280 million early last year, and reported a loss of more than £7.1 million in the 11 months to December 31.

By Shropshire Star Business Editor Thom Kennedy