Geest announced on October 31 that it has bought the facilities of Tinsley Foods from receivers.

The buildings, based near Geest's own headquarters at Spalding, were valued at £15.3million in Tinsley's last published accounts.

But the ready meal and prepared salads plant will not be fully operational again yet. 'We will have to invest further in plant at the facility and it is still not clear which part of our business will expand into it,' Geest finance director Mark Pullen told the freshinfo.com. Geest does not therefore expect to reopen the Tinsley facility until 2003. 'We have bought it to meet our future needs and we have saved a significant amount in buying now,' added Pullen.

Geest reported annual turnover growth of 18 per cent in September and said then that it would continue to invest in capacity to match increasing consumer demand for fresh prepared foods.

Tinsley closed in September with the loss of 850 jobs. The company's chairman heavily criticised major customer Marks & Spencer at the time for withdrawing a substantial part of its business.