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The Board of Westbury Dairies Limited has announced that agreement has been reached with its three joint venture shareholders (Dairy Farmers of Britain, First Milk and Milk Link) on the future of the company.

Dairy Farmers of Britain will exit from the Westbury Dairies joint venture as soon as practicable and its representatives will step down from the Board. First Milk and Milk Link will continue as shareholders of Westbury Dairies Limited, with First Milk having two-thirds of the shares and Milk Link one third.

Westbury Dairies made a profit last year following greater emphasis on cost control and improving efficiencies. Going forward, profits will be shared two-thirds to First Milk and one-third to Milk Link.

This new agreement gives us and Milk Link full control over the state-of-the-art Westbury powder and butter production facility. We strongly believe that, in the light of the ongoing volatility in dairy ingredient prices and UK milk production, Westbury Dairies will not only provide us with the security of having full access to the UK’s foremost milk balancing facility but that there is also potential to develop the business.

Dairy Farmers of Britain have agreed a long term supply arrangement, which allows it to have limited access to balancing capacity at Westbury, thereby contributing to the ongoing costs of operating the site.