Ten things you probably didn't know about Seabrook crisps

Seabrook crisps launching its lamb and mint flavour.

Seabrook Crisps is a Yorkshire institution, even if it may have dropped the '˜Lovingly Made in Yorkshire' slogan, that has a following across the globe. Today the Bradford company has announced that it has been sold to new owners. So here's ten things you probably didn't know about Seabrook Crisps:

1 - Seabrook was founded in 1945 by Charles Brook in Bradford.

2 - The company still makes its crisps in Bradford.

3 - Seabrook employs around 160 people at its base in Bradford.

Seabrook crisps have been produced in Bradford for more than 70 years.

4 - It is thought to be one of the first to ever manufacture crinkle cut crisps.

5 - The name Seabrook has interesting origins. Charles Brook went to collect his photos from a shopkeeper who instead of ‘C Brook’ had labelled then Seabrook. So when he opened his first ever fish n’ chip shop, Mr Brook decided to call it Seabrook.

6 - The Brook family’s venture in to crisps happened by accident. Charles Brook and his son discovered that they could create crinkle cut crisps with their fryer.

7 - The business has made headway internationally in recent years. In 2016 it struck its first ever major export deal when it agreed a deal with LuLu Hypermarket, a well-known supermarket chain in the Middle East.

Seabrook boss Jonathan Bye. Pic: Richard Walker/www.imagenorth.net

8 - The business went through a management buyout (MBO) in 2015. The deal was backed by private equity investor LDC.

9 - However, LDC has today exited the business after selling the business to Calbee (UK) for an undisclosed sum. Calbee UK is the subsidiary of $2.3bn Japan-based global snack company Calbee.

10 - The current chief executive of Seabrook is Jonathan Bye. Mr Bye will continue in his role following the takeover.

Read the full story on Calbee’s takeover of Seabrook here.