The news that the internationally-known brand Dorset Cereals could moving from Poundbury to Poole has been described as 'bittersweet'.

As reported, Dorset Cereals – which employs 115 people – plans to move its factory to a custom-built, £5.5million unit on the Ryvita site at Poole.

Both brands are part of Associated British Food (ABF), which bought Dorset Cereals from Wellness Foods in 2014.

The company said it hoped as many staff as possible would move to the Poole site and that its long-term hope was to create more jobs.

Following the news, Steve Farnham from the Dorchester Chamber of Commerce said: “It is disappointing to hear that Dorset Cereals could be moving out of Dorchester shortly. Although they are not a member of the Chamber, they are a major employer in the town and we will be sorry to see them go.

"Fortunately, they will remain in Dorset and we hope that a majority of their employees will remain employed. For those who stay we are fortunate that Dorchester and it’s surrounds has a vibrant economy and that there are re-employment opportunities available. Although, we would be sad to see Dorchester Cereals leave they are undoubtedly a success story and show that businesses in and around Dorchester can grow to be a major business.”

The president of Poole Chamber of Trade and Commerce has said the news is “bittersweet” because of the blow to Poundbury, where the company has been based for 20 years.

Anthony Ford, a business consultant as well as Poole Chamber president, said: “It’s bitter sweet. I deal with a lot of businesses in Dorchester and Weymouth.

“It’s great news for Poole, not so great news for Dorchester, but it’s good that they’re staying in the county.”

He added; “Poole is going to benefit from that because there’s going to be a £5.5million investment and it will potentially create more jobs locally.”

Dorset Cereals says it produced 10 tonnes of cereal a day, with five recipes, when it moved to Poundbury in 2000. It now makes 75 tonnes a day with more than 60 recipes.

Mr Ford said: “They need to increase capacity. I totally understand why they’ve taken that decision.”

The move would be the fourth in the company’s history.

Andy Prudence, site manager at Dorset Cereals, said: “We’ve been on this site for 18 years and the growth of the company in that time has been fantastic. We now want to ensure that we are fit for the future and can meet our growth aspirations for years to come, and as such we believe that moving to a bespoke facility in Poole would give us the added production capacity we need."

The company has entered a process of consultation with staff, expected to last until July.

The new facility is expected to improve production line efficiency, using machinery designed specifically for manufacturing Dorset Cereals.

ABF announced last year that it would build a sister Ryvita factory in Lincolnshire. It said: “We remain fully committed to making Ryvita products in Poole, as we have done since 1948.”