THE Abbey Vale Bakery, Heathfield, which went into administration in December, has been saved.

It has been sold by the administrator, Stephen Hobson, of chartered accountants Francis Clark, in a deal that secures more than 70 jobs and see the business play a pivotal role in an international consortium.

The business has been purchased by Middle East-based Averda, which has interests in the manufacture of processing plant, construction, engineering and waste management.

Six months ago, the team at Averda created a strategy to develop a large food-manufacturing business to cater for the growing food on the move market by providing quality, premium-end products.

Geoff Peppiatt, managing director of Averda, said they had researched the market closely and had concluded that a lot of the food on the move currently available on the market is not of the best quality, not very tasty and in some cases just not nutritious.

'We felt that, with the right input, we could do better,' he said.

It bought Abbey Vale Bakery to be an important element of this strategy and was chosen because it produces premium products at high quality under a good brand and because it had an excellent reputation with its customer base.

'We spoke to Abbey Vale's customers and we were impressed at the high level of praise they have for the business,' said Mr Peppiatt.

From a strong base with an annual turnover of £4 million, Averda is planning to increase this to meet the factory's full capacity, which equates to a turnover of around £12 million.

'We do not want to underestimate the work we have to do, and we will be calling upon our staff, our customers and our suppliers to help us make this business the success it deserves to be,' added Mr Peppiatt.

Increased manpower will be needed and the business is currently recruiting processing and sales personnel.

Abbey Vale Bakery began its life in Buckfastleigh 25 years ago and specialises in the manufacture of premium pasties and pies.

It moved to its current purpose built factory in Heathfield, nearly four years ago.