A Bradford bakery which has grown into a £19.9 million-turnover business in less than 15 years has been bought-out by a Blackburn-based plc in a £12.25 million cash deal.

Yorkshire Cottage Bakeries Group, based in City Road, Bradford - which makes fairy cakes, American muffins and biscuits - has been purchased by the Inter Link Foods group.

Inter Link executive chairman Alwin Thompson said the intention was to grow the business and the firm was committed to staying in Bradford, where more than 200 of the firm's 300-strong workforce are based.

Yorkshire Cottage Bakeries, which was founded in 1991 as a spin-off from Kashmir Crown Bakeries, has an impressive customer base featuring all major supermarket groups, including Bradford-based Morrisons. It has two factories in Bradford and one in Manchester.

"The customer base is very, very good, the quality of the products is very, very good and it has well-invested factories, so that's why we have paid the money that we have," said Mr Thompson.

"The company has done very well. It is a very focused management team with a very good workforce and that is how they have got to the position they are in. When we take over, it will be more of the same. We want to continue in the same vein."

The deal is the ninth and largest purchase secured by Inter Link, which is listed on the Alternative Investment Market, since its flotation in 1988. It owns an array of manufacturers of private label and branded cake products, including malt loaf giant Soreen. Last year, the company was awarded the licence to produce all Disney "small cakes" in the UK.

Three directors of Yorkshire Cottage Bakeries - Mussadhiq Hussain, Zahoor Ahmed and Muhabat Hussain - will leave the business, while group sales director Younis Choudray will remain.