AN INDEPENDENT North Yorkshire-based animal nutrition business has been taken over.

A-One Feed Supplements of Dishforth is a leading specialist manufacturer of feeds and supplements for piglets, ruminants and game in the UK and Ireland. Established by owner Andrew Simpson in 1975 it is a widely recognised and respected brand which employs 40 staff.

Devenish Nutrition - the new owner - has developed and supplied nutritional products for the pig, poultry, ruminant, companion animal and equine sectors for more than 60 years.

The A-One Feed brand will continue to operate alongside its range of products and the new owners say the acquisition will allow it to provide a "world class offering" across the UK and Ireland.

Welcoming the acquisition, Mr Simpson, the former owner, said: "Devenish Nutrition has had great success in the UK, Ireland and internationally. That success, combined with their recent investment into food grade production facilities at Widnes and an organic mill in Sheffield, made Devenish the ideal partner to combine our strengths with. I am confident the A-One brand will continue to excel under their ownership."

Patrick McLaughlin, chief executive of Devenish Nutrition UK and Ireland, said they intend to further grow A-One Feeds in UK, Irish and international markets, and to use the acquisition to further develop Devenish in Great Britain.

He said: "It is our aim to manage both businesses to the benefit of our customers and the wider industry through creating and delivering the most valuable nutritional products and solutions possible to the UK and Irish market.

"Under the leadership of Andrew Simpson for almost 40 years, A-One has become a successful and highly regarded company with a rich heritage in developing high quality specialist products. Indeed, the pioneering nature of the company has been demonstrated over its history, back to its introduction of milk powder in piglet nutrition in the 1970s.

"That approach is very much aligned with the Devenish commitment to driving performance led innovation in the agri sector and we are proud to now be bringing the A-One Feeds brand under our ownership."

Owen Brennan, chairman and chief executive of Devenish, said: "This acquisition has been on our radar for some time and is a significant part of our long term growth strategy. We are now the only independent specialist piglet feed manufacturer in the UK and Ireland and also the largest independent manufacturer overall."

Devenish has production facilities in Minnesota and Iowa, North America; Belfast, Northern Ireland; Widnes, Killamarsh and now Thirsk in England.