A NORTH Yorkshire business has strengthened links with Moldova as it looks to extend its reach there.

The Kerfoot Group, which provides oils to the food manufacturing, cosmetic and aromatherapy industries, welcomed the Moldova ambassador to the UK, Dr Iulian Fruntasu, to its headquarters in Northallerton and its operational sites in Goole.

Kerfoot Overseas, a subsidiary of the £85 million-turnover family business, is based in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, from which the group sells into the old Eastern Bloc countries and the Middle East.

The visit came about after its director, Jennifer Kerfoot, met the British ambassador Keith Shannon in Chisinau.

The group said it wanted to extend its commercial activities, including reviewing further investment opportunities and extending seed growing programmes and localised oil processing in Moldova.

David Kerfoot, chief executive of The Kerfoot Group, said: “We are extremely proud to have received Dr Fruntasu and to show him our facilities in the UK.

“The republic is a very important part of our expanding operations and I was hugely honoured to host him in Yorkshire.

“My team and I gained a great deal from the visit – it was a chance to explore business opportunities with His Excellency as well as showing him our core philosophy of social entrepreneurship.

“Our Smile For Moldova campaign has been an enormous success over the previous few years and I wanted to ensure that our aim of putting something back into the community wherever we operate is achieved, irrelevant of our location.”