Arla in the UK

Through Express Dairies plc we can trace our roots back to 1864 when George Barham, the son of a London dairyman, formed the Express Country Milk Supply Company, near Kings Cross Station in London.

Meanwhile, our Scandinavian history through Arla Foods can be traced through Scandinavia's co-operative dairies, back to a farm called Stora Arla Gard in Sweden in 1881.

Arla Foods' links with the UK began at the turn of the century when Lurpak butter was introduced to the UK market. The liquid milk business was then built up from acquisitions since 1990, complementing the existing cheese and butter business.

Merger in 2003
The major milestone in Arla Foods plc and Express Daries plc's recent history was on 22 October 2003 when the two companies mergerd together and formed Arla Foods UK plc, the UK's leading dairy company.

Of the shares in the new company 51 per cent were owned by Arla Foods amba in Denmark.

The first year of trading as Arla Foods UK plc saw the company continuing to build its popular dairy brands, forge closer relationships with its milk producers, Arla Foods Milk Partnership, develop leadership in technology and provide growth potential for its customers, which included the opening of Stourton dairy, one of Europe's most technologically advanced dairies.

Rationalisation programme
The programme to streamline the company's operations began at the end of 2003 and resulted in the closure of Bamber Bridge dairy, Newcastle dairy, Ruislip dairy and the glass bottling line at Hatfield Peverel.

Early 2005 saw the closure of its wholesale cheese business HT Webb while completion of phase two at Stourton dairy brought additional Cravendale milk capacity and Arla's new £18m dairy at Lockerbie began production in December. In October 2005 Arla sold its London Foodservice business to Dairy Crest.

The rationalisation programme continued in 2006 when Dairy Crest acquired the Express doorstep side of the business including Arla's Liverpool and Nottingham dairies for £33m creating the UK's leading doorstep and middleground business.

On 20 October 2006, Arla Foods UK plc and Arla Foods amba (a co-operative owned by approximately 8,000 Danish and Swedish milk producers) announced that they were in discussions for Arla Foods amba to acquire the remaining 49 per cent of shares in Arla Foods UK plc which it didn't already own.

Delisted from the London Stock Exchange
In April 2007 Arla Foods UK plc subsequently delisted from the London Stock Exchange and became a subsidiary of Arla Foods amba.

Arla Foods amba is one of Europe's largest dairy companies sourcing approximately 8.4 billion litres of milk a year and employing 16,500 people worldwide with Arla products sold in more than 100 countries.