United Biscuits
United Biscuits is a
British multinational food manufacturer, owned by Finalrealm, a syndicate including
Cinven and
Kraft.
The company's
headquarters are in
Hayes, north west
London. The core of the business is in the
United Kingdom, where it produces biscuits, crisps and other snacks under a number of brand names including:
McVitie's (biscuits),
KP (nuts),
Hula Hoops (snacks),
McCoy's (crisps), Phileas Fogg (crisps) and Simmers. It acquired
Carr's of Carlisle in 1972, including the
Water biscuits. It also produces own brand products for supermarkets.
United Biscuits was formed in 1948 from the merger between McVitie & Price and MacFarlane Lang. The company now manufactures in a number of countries across Europe, such as the
Netherlands,
France,
Belgium,
Spain and
Portugal. The Spanish business was once
Nabisco Spain.
The company's main UK distribution centre is at
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, where it also has a factory manufacturing
KP Snacks.
United Biscuits owned the
Wimpy Bar fast food restaurant chain between 1977 and 1989. It also previously owned the Pizzaland chain and the frozen and chilled food companies Youngs (sold to become Youngs Bluecrest) and Ross (sold to
H. J. Heinz Company).
In September 2004 UB bought the UK company Jacob's from
Danone, drastically increasing its market share in the UK and increasing its estimated turnover to around £1bn.
The
United Biscuits Network was a radio network serving their factories across the UK. It folded in 1979, but spawned the career of UK radio presenter
Steve Allen.
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Jaffa cake*
United Biscuits*
History of United Biscuits
