Donald Russell take over

An Aberdeenshire meat business could be about to become a household name on the Continent after being sold to a family firm steeped in the history of global food trading.

London-headquartered Vestey Foods, which has a turnover of £500million annually and operates in 70 countries, has acquired Donald Russell.

It plans to roll out Donald Russell's highly successful mail order and online trading platform to other parts of Europe and let shoppers there buy its range of meat, fish and ready-meals, all of which will continue to be processed at Inverurie and dispatched from a new £6million site at Kintore.