Dairy Crest is today announcing that it has bought the small specialist milk business Proper Welsh Milk.

The business and assets have been acquired from the administrators BDO LLP for £325,000.

Proper Welsh Milk was created in 2011 and invested over £1 million in a new dairy on the site of the former Whitland Creamery in Carmarthenshire. It now employs around 40 people and packs local milk for Tesco, Marks and Spencer and a number of other customers. It has recently started supplying milk enriched with vitamin D which contributes to strong bones. Proper Welsh has been hit by cash flow problems and went into administration on 1 March 2013.

Dairy Crest is committed to supporting dairy farming in Wales and is one of the country's biggest milk buyers. However until now all of its Welsh milk has been packed in England.

Commenting on the acquisition, Mark Allen, Chief Executive of Dairy Crest, said:

"We are delighted to be the new owners of this business which we believe has a bright future. Our priority is to maintain supply to customers and use this modern dairy in a strong milk field to help us to develop new products, such as vitamin enriched milk. We welcome the employees of Proper Welsh Milk to Dairy Crest and look forward to working with them."

Simon Girling, Joint Administrator of BDO LLP added:

"We are pleased that this important facility in the local community has been preserved, and can now enter a new era with confidence, with the support of an industry major."