The managing director of a North Yorkshire-based wholesaler has invested a six-figure sum in launchin a new premium tea brand.

The Mad Hatter Tea Company is aimed at the retail, catering, wholesale, farm shop and deli markets.

With 80% of its produce sourced from India and 20% from Kenya, the blend delivers a refreshing, clean taste, according to its founder Michael Harrison.

Harrison is managing director of fine food wholesale specialist Northern Select Foods.  His tea brand is based in Richmond, the North Yorkshire town where Lewis Carroll, author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, went to school.

“With the Mad Hatter's unique connection with tea and the base of our business, it seems appropriate that they are now blended together," Harrison said.