Welsh health food manufacturer Wholebake has been acquired in a management buy-out that was backed by Finance Wales with a £750,000 debt and equity investment.

Wholebake managing director Mark Gould and operations director Richard Shaw have purchased the majority shareholding of retiring founder Steve Jones. Based in Denbighshire, Wholebake manufactures and distributes cereal bars to supermarkets and health food shops across the UK.

Gould says he aims to use the investment to improve efficiency and introduce new products for the fast-growing health food sector.

Jones and Jennifer Gibson founded the business in 1984 after the two worked in both the retail and wholesale of health foods. They began the business by producing food in the kitchen of their farmhouse and selling their products locally through health food shops and local supermarkets.