When Peter Pattrick left MBMG at the end of the summer he took with him all the Meijer varieties and no fewer than 10 technical and sales staff from the company's seed division. Thus, Potato Innovations Ltd, a new venture set up with Dutch backing, was given a head start and a guarantee of substantial sales. Peter Pattrick was a key figure in the MBM hierarchy. He survived a bruising boardroom coup in 2005 which followed the take-over by Premier Foods, but it was a further shake-up earlier this year (POTATO REVIEW, March 2007) which finally persuaded him that it was time to move on. He cites a lack of consultation on a management buyout as the principal reason for his disenchantment but says it had also become apparent that one of the company's major seed suppliers was getting 'twitchy'.
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