Robert Wiseman Dairies, which handles more than a quarter of the fresh milk supplied to UK consumers, pleased investors by narrowly beating profit expectations and delivering another retail contract win.

Turnover was boosted by the first full year of operations at its Bridgwater dairy plant in Somerset. The facility, with a total project cost of £80m, currently processes 250m litres of milk a year. But there are plans to expand the plant to handle 100m litres a year, accounting for 8 to 9 per cent of Britain’s current fresh milk requirements.