In a nutshell: Finsbury runs a £60m business in bread and cakes
History: The story began in summer 2002 when Lord Saatchi decided to reposition his media and dot.com cash shell Megalomedia as a speciality foods business, starting with the £9.5m purchase of Memory Lane Cakes, followed by craft baker Nicholas & Harris in 2003 for £3.6m
Brands you'd recognise: Chiefly own-label for the big supermarkets. However, Memory Lane has the exclusive rights to produce Nestlé branded cakes and Nicholas & Harris has recently struck a three-year licensing deal to produce and sell organic breads under the Village Bakery brand
The strategy: Buy and build is the way forward for Finsbury, which has “identified a number of specific opportunities which it intends to pursue over the coming months”, say its directors. "We believe that the UK food sector is increasingly polarised between substantial manufacturers and a large number of smaller independent businesses, and believe that, in this environment, opportunities exist to acquire and develop profitable niche businesses.” In the meantime, it’s been extending the Nicholas & Harris factory, exiting low margin, non core activities at Memory Lane, exploring cross-selling opportunities and pumping cash into automation
Where you'd work: Memory Lane is based in Cardiff, which employs more than 1,000 staff. Nicholas & Harris in based Salisbury, and employs more than 100 staff
Do say at interview: I can get you a licensing deal for the next Disney movie …
Don't say at interview: 'I like to be generous with my toppings’ (inexperienced temporary staff famously prompted a profit warning in early 2004 by being too liberal with their icing in the Christmas 2003 ranges)
Contact: 0207 448 8950 http://www.finsburyfoods.co.uk