Richmond Foods, which is forging ahead with a £4m extension at its Leeming Bar plant, has reported strong growth in turnover and profits in the year which ended on September 30.

Preliminary results show that the UK's largest independent manufacturer of ice-cream products saw turnover jump 25pc, to £88.5m, with profits before tax increasing by 33pc to £5.2m.

In a busy year for Richmond, the company continued the integration of the Allied Frozen Foods ice-cream business, taken over last year. In May, following consultations, the AFF factory at Ashford, Kent, was closed and production transferred to Leeming Bar.

Following an extraordinary general meeting at the end of September, Richmond acquired the UK ice-cream business of Nestle with a long-term licensing arrangement to make and sell Nestle brands. Production is being moved from the Nestle factory in Telford, Shropshire, to the Richmond site at Crossgates, Leeds.

Richmond chairman Mr Ross Warburton said: "This further strategic move for the company now gives us a significant presence in the branded sector of the ice-cream market and leaves us with a strong mix of branded and private label sales."

He said there would be some exceptional costs to be accounted for in the current year arising from the integration of the two businesses, but these should be below £1.5m.

Chief executive Mr James Lambert said the year had seen steady growth in the "take home" ice-cream category, which was now worth about £590m, with Richmond having a 46pc volume share of the total market. New product launches this year concentrated on adding value through superior ingredients and improved packaging.

There had been continued pressure on the price of two-litre ice-cream, but investment in dairy ice-cream was starting to deliver sales of higher value products and significant launches were planned next year for both branded and own label premium products.

The impulse-buying category had seen its decline slow to about 5pc compared with 11pc last year, but Mr Lambert said this was still worth £343m to Richmond.