An Essex millers says it will be expanding its range of animal foods and processed ingredients after acquiring a Lincolnshire processing facility.

Chelmsford-based family firm W&H Marriage & Sons Ltd has bought the Driby Top business of Micronized Food Products Ltd.

The Driby Top site in Lincolnshire was one of two sites that Micronized Food Products operated and Marriage’s Specialist Foods Ltd will trade from the site as a wholly-owned subsidiary of W&H Marriage and Sons.

Micronized Food Products’ business at Northallerton has not been sold and will continue unchanged.

Marriage’s will maintain all the current products from Driby Top and intends to supply further products, services and opportunities for customers and suppliers in the future.

A strong operational partnership will remain between Marriage’s and Micronized Food Products. Colin Miller, managing director of Micronized Food Products for the last 12 years, will continue to work across both businesses, along with other existing staff.

Mr Miller said: “Marriage’s investment in Driby Top opens an exciting new chapter for the business and its staff. The involvement of Marriage’s will provide an array of exciting new opportunities and I look forward to working closely with them in the future.”

Combining the production capabilities of Driby Top with their existing site, Chelmer Mills in Chelmsford, will strengthen the Marriage’s ranges of poultry, equine and livestock feeds. It will also extend the firm’s offering to include additional processed and blended ingredients, and wild bird foods.

Joint managing director Peter Marriage said, ‘We are very excited about the opportunities the Driby Top business will bring to our operations. We have excellent facilities in Chelmsford and the additional processes at Driby Top will allow us to offer even more to our customers.’

Micronized Food Products Ltd was established in 1980 and manufactures a wide range of micronized food products at two sites. The facility at Driby Top in Lincolnshire focuses on cleaning and cooking raw materials, as well as processing and packaging finished product. Production is focused on own label feeds for poultry, wild birds, horses and agricultural youngstock.

W&H Marriage & Sons Ltd has been a family-owned milling company in Chelmsford, Essex since 1824, making it one of the oldest family businesses in the south east. The current site, Chelmer Mills, contains a flour mill and a feed mill, both making use of modern and traditional milling techniques. The Marriage family also owns and runs farms nearby.