THE Stadium Group has sold its plastic injection moulding business to a management buy-in team in a £7m deal.

The buy-in by plastics expert Jeremy Stoke was backed by Lloyds TSB.

The deal leaves Stadium to focus on its electronics business, which manufactures power supply units for electrical products such as fruit machines and power tools.

The new plastics business will operate as Stadium Plastics Limited and will be based in Hartlepool.

It will be involved in plastic injection mouldings for the automotive and consumer products sector. Its customers include car manufacturers Nissan and BMW.

The deal secures the future of nearly 500 jobs, including 360 in Hartlepool, 20 in Chilton, County Durham, along with a further 100 in Leicestershire and Devon.

The remaining electronics business will employ about 200 staff.