Albert Bartlett buys potato processing site in Norfolk

Potato processing site manufacturing Aunt Bessie's brand in Norfolk was purchased by the Scottish produce giant Albert Bartlett and will not close, as previously announced by Heinz.

The factory had been due to close this month, causing the loss of around 200 jobs, after Heinz announced the closure of the site in December 2014 after failing to find a buyer for the factory as a going concern.

This move followed the decision by the William Jackson Food Group, owner of the Aunt Bessie’s brand, not to renew the license for Heinz to manufacture its frozen potato products Aunt Bessie’s.

Then, Belgian potato supplier Agristo won the contract to produce Aunt Bessie’s potato products in place of Heinz. Then, Heinz said it was "deeply disappointed" to announce plans to close its site in the Norfolk town of North Walsham. Speaking at the time, the CEO of William Jackson Food Group, Norman Soutar, said: "Our contract with Heinz reaches its natural end in 2015. Heinz has done a great job with our Aunt Bessie's potato business but we're now keen for it to join the rest of the Aunt Bessie's operations in-house, giving us greater influence over its management and long-term future direction. We scoured the UK and then Europe for new a supplier of potato products which would deliver the quality expected by our customers and selected Agristo.

“Heinz has done a great job with our Aunt Bessie’s potato business but we’re now keen for it to join the rest of the Aunt Bessie’s operations in-house, giving us greater influence over its management and long-term future direction,” he said.

Albert Bartlett confirmed that it had bought the site, but refused to comment any further.