UK potato and vegetable processor Fylde Fresh & Fabulous has secured investment from private investor Chiltern Capital as part of a management buyout involving members of the company’s existing leadership team.

Chief Executive Simon Leaver, Head of Finance Mark Claridge and Head of Commercial Emma Hesketh have invested alongside Chiltern, while the existing management team will remain in place following the transaction.

Fylde Fresh & Fabulous will join Chiltern’s fresh produce portfolio alongside Burgess Farms, creating the potential for closer cooperation between the businesses across growing, processing and fresh produce supply.

The processor operates from Stanley Villa Farm near Preston and a manufacturing site in Leeds. Its activities include growing and processing potatoes and supplying prepared potato products, including peeled and cut potatoes and fresh chips.

The company says it controls more than 1,000 acres of potato production and operates two vegetable processing sites. Its Preston operation also includes an anaerobic digestion facility that uses potato and vegetable trimmings to produce energy.

Fylde Fresh & Fabulous was incorporated in 2005 and is registered at Companies House under the processing and preserving of potatoes activity. Leaver has led the business as chief executive for several years and has more than two decades of experience with the company.

The transaction also marks a change in ownership following the departure of several former directors during August. Financial terms of the management buyout were not disclosed.