KNUTSFORD’S Delamere Dairy has been named the UK’s fastest growing food and drink company in the Sunday Times BT Business SME Export Track 100.

The league table, which was published in the business section of the Sunday Times on May 17, ranks Britain’s private small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) with the fastest-growing international sales over the last two years.

Delamere Dairy is the highest ranking company from the north west and fourth in the league table nationally.

Overseas sales of Delamere’s cow and goats’ milk products reached £5m last year, and overseas growth has risen 213.63 per cent in the last two years.

The company, which started life in Delamere Forest 30 years ago with the purchase of three goats, was one of the first companies to gain permission to export liquid goats’ milk into China and now also has an office in Hong Kong.

Its exports have benefited from increasingly westernised diets in the Far East, and the strong reputation of British foods abroad.

Ed Salt, managing director at Delamere Dairy, said: "We’re delighted to have been ranked so highly amongst other progressive, ambitious companies, operating on a global level.

"It’s significant that a speciality dairy company has been borne from a region renowned for traditional dairy and is pushing the boundaries with its product innovation in the UK and in markets across the globe. I’m really proud of all the team at Delamere."