Wholesale manufacturer Margaret Hall has been bought by a business aiming to build a craft bakery group through further deals.

Panicium Limited said the acquisition of the Warwick-based bakery gave it a platform to bring together other craft bakeries into a single group with sales, marketing, distribution and purchasing benefits.

Margaret Hall manufactures a range of tarts, cakes and biscuits under its own brand Margaret’s Country Kitchen, and as white-label products for foodservice distributors and catering wholesalers. 

Margaret Hall shareholders Jonathan and Charlotte Walsh, who will remain in the business and become part of the Panicium senior management team, had been keen to seek investment to deliver a new growth strategy, explained financial advisor BCMS.

“Becoming part of Panicium means we can continue to innovate, expand our product range and grow our customer base in order to take Margaret Hall to the next level,” said Jonathan Walsh. “After more than 25 years of hard work to get us in this position, this deal is exactly what we were looking for.”

Panicium is described as a ‘buy-and-build vehicle’ founded by Graham Norfolk and Peter Fields, who have experience in building businesses in a number of sectors.

Margaret Hall had great management, family values, product quality, a skilled workforce and top-rated food production site, said Norfolk.

“Panicium now has a platform to combine other complementary craft bakeries into one group, in order to develop benefits from sales, marketing, distribution and purchasing,” he added.

“We really look forward to working with Jonathan and Charlotte and are confident that they will become a cornerstone of Panicium.”

The terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.