Milk Link Chief Eyes Expansion

BROMSGROVE, England, June 14, 2011 -

The chief executive of  href="www.just-food.com/companies/milk-link_id333">Milk
Link says the UK dairy co-operative wants to be a
“bigger, broader version” of the company it is now, with potential
for acquisitions in the medium term.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with just-food.com following
its full-year results, Milk Link CEO Neil Kennedy discusses the
company’s performance and its plans over the next year and
beyond.

Earlier this month (8 June), Milk Link published its full-year
financial results and, talking to just-food, Kennedy  outlined
to just-food.com the company’s medium-term ambitions - and much of
the vision was to build on the group’s current strategy.

“We think being represented directly or indirectly across the
spectrum of dairy products is important so we don’t see ourselves
changing in that respect. We’d like to get bigger across the
sectors. We are a scale business but we’re up against some
much bigger competitors,” Kennedy says

Milk Link added to its cheese portfolio in January, with the
acquisition of Country Cheese Larder, a maker of soft cheeses. At
the time of the acquisition, Kennedy said Milk Link wanted to
become “the leading British value-added dairy processing business”.
Expanding on this vision, he now reveals that Milk Link has a “full
programme” of expansion for the year ahead, with “big investments
going in” but he hints that, perhaps, this year, the focus would be
on organic growth.

“Our refinancing last autumn does put us in a position where
we’ve got access agreed financial support to make further
acquisitions,” Kennedy says. “I wouldn’t rule out us doing other
similar or even slightly larger scale acquisitions over the medium
term but, as far as this year is concerned, I think we’ve got a
pretty full agenda.”

Read the full interview here: href="www.just-food.com/interview/the-just-food-interview-neil-kennedy-milk-link_id115590.aspx">
www.just-food.com/interview/the-just-food-interview-neil-kennedy-milk-link_id115590.aspx
 

The interview is available for full members of just-food.com
only. To gain access to this interview along with beverage industry
information, insight and intelligence visit: href="www.just-food.com/membership.aspx">www.just-food.com/membership.aspx
 

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