Northern Ireland's Tayto in new acquisitions in Britain

Northern Ireland crisp maker Tayto Group has announced two significant acquisitions. The group has bought control of Tavern Snacks in London and Devon-based Portlebay Popcorn.

The deals strengthen the Northern Ireland company's market position in popcorn and other snacks in the UK.

Tayto, which is based at Tandragee in county Armagh and is owned by Manderley Food Group, has acquired a majority stake in the Portlebay popcorn business, which went into administration on 31 January. Tayto and two of Portlebay's founding shareholders, Jonty White and Neil Adams, acquired the trade and assets from administrators. Portlebay will be run independently from Tayto although it will have access to the wider group capabilities and expertise.

Paul Allen, Tayto's chief executive, said: "This is great investment for us, popcorn is a growing market and Portlebay is a great, premium product.

"We are also delighted that all the staff, including founders Jonty White and Neil Adams, will be staying on and will continue to run the business. It is a fantastic opportunity for us to combine our many years of experience and some investment with their exuberance and innovation but, for now, we just want to provide some stability and security for both staff and customers.

"We are in the process of putting together a plan for how we are going to develop Portlebay and will be sharing that with the trade in the near future.

"The purchase of Tavern Snacks has allowed us to diversify both by adding another brand and also by adding their range of nuts to our portfolio. We are now producing crisps in Tandragee which are being sold under the Tavern name all around London."

Tayto has made a series of acquisitions in Great Britain in recent including Golden Wonder, Red Mill, Real Crisps, Mr Porky, Red Mill and Jonathan Crisp. It now employs over 3,000 people in Great Britain including 300 at Tandragee and produces more than one million crisps and snacks at the county Armagh plant.

Tavern Snacks produces crisps, roasted nuts and pork scratchings. Portlebay makes popcorn for retailers such as Tesco, Sainsbury's, Co-Op and independent retailers in the south of England. Tayto has also launched its own three-strong popcorn range.