The deal is set to be completed this month and jobs have been secured
A Merseyside family business which has served customers for decades is to be sold. The Harrison family, which runs Maghull-based Mortons Dairies, are retiring from the industry and their doorstep milk delivery business is being sold to other dairies in the North West.
Southport-based family company Bates Farms & Dairy has confirmed it is in the process of acquiring four of Mortons’ sites. The acquisition is set to bring the operations of three depots – Maghull, Speke and Belmont Road (Anfield) – and one vehicle maintenance site in Knowsley – under Bates’ control.
Eighty seven staff and eight franchisees will move into the existing Bates business, securing jobs. Bates Farms & Dairy and Mortons exchanged contracts last week and, following a successful consultation process, the deal is set to complete this month.
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A letter delivered by Mortons to customers with their milk this week confirmed the news. Signed by company director Julian Harrison, the letter detailed his family’s retirement and that jobs will be transferred to Bates.
Mr Harrison wrote: “After decades of being proud to serve our local communities, we wanted to share the news with you, our valued customers, that we have made the difficult decision to retire from the industry and to sell our local doorstep milk delivery business to Bates Farms and Dairy Limited. Bates is a family-run company which shares our values of community, quality and heritage, and we are pleased to let you know that they will continue to provide you with the high-quality locally sourced milk and produce you have been enjoying from us.
“Our employees will become part of Bates, so you will continue to be served by your current roundsperson. We have truly appreciated the loyalty that you have shown us over the years, and we know that your relationship with Bates will be a successful one.”
In a statement sent to the ECHO, the Bates family said: ‘’We’re extremely excited about this potential deal and the opportunity to offer our products and services to a wider customer base in an area where we are already well established. The values of Mortons dairy, including community, quality, service and heritage align with our own and because of this, we as a family are really positive and confident that this will be a successful venture.
“We have celebrated becoming 85 years old this year which we are extremely proud of. And along with the new faces coming into the business and the extended customer base we hope to have many more birthdays to come. We’d like to take this opportunity to reassure Mortons’ customers that we’ll be keeping them updated, and that we will be challenging ourselves to continually improve on the fantastic service they’ve come to expect from their team at Mortons.
“There are exciting times ahead. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Harrison Family for this opportunity, and wish them all the best for the future.”
Bates was founded in 1939. Three generations of the family are engaged in managing the dairy and work with customers and suppliers every day.
The ECHO understands that Mortons’ Ashton, Blacon and Saughall Massey depots are being taken on by another North West dairy.
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