Walker Morris advises Abbeydale Food Group on the sale of Saxon Foods

Having acquired Country Chef in 2011 and renamed it Saxon Foods, Abbeydale has developed it from a B2B business serving food manufacturers into a major provider of added value frozen vegetables, supplying most of the UK’s leading supermarkets and wholesalers as well as the food service market. Its products are also sold into continental Europe.

Saxon’s range of allergen-free frozen products includes jacket potatoes, mint and chilli peas, mushy pea pots, potato skins, healthy baked chips, and curry sauce pots. Saxon is based in Scunthorpe and employs an 80-strong team.

Richard Naish and Kayleigh Watson from the Corporate Team at Walker Morris provided legal advice to Abbeydale.

Andrew Hayes, managing director of Abbeydale Food Group, explains:

“After being part of Abbeydale for the last 10 years, we believe that Tuber Group is a natural home for Saxon, enabling the business to gain from the group’s purchasing benefits. The new owner also has some exciting plans to build on Saxon’s success and take it to the next stage in its development.

“The sale will also allow Abbeydale to focus on developing other parts of the group, including our Summit Foods business which has already doubled in the last 24 months.”

Richard Naish added:

“We are delighted to have advised the team at Abbeydale on this deal. The sale of Saxon Foods will allow the company to reinforce its specialist expertise and strategic direction with other parts of the group. The deal also reinforces our own extensive experience and reputation in the food and drink sector as well as our ability to provide specialist legal advice to our clients in the industry.”