Logistics firm Stobart Group has increased its presence in chilled food distribution after snapping up the chilled and ambient goods operations of Innovate Logistics .

Stobart has also picked up a number of the company's contracts, including a warehousing operation with Nestlé, saving 1,300 jobs, for an undisclosed sum.

"This is a low-risk way of increasing our presence in the market, giving our customers more choice and flexibility," said Andrew Tinkler, CEO of Stobart Group.

Innovate, which was owned by Icelandic shipping company Eimskip, went into administration on Monday. Its frozen operations were acquired by Yearlsey Group.