United Biscuits United Biscuits is a British multinational food manufacturer , owned by Finalrealm , a syndicate including Cinven . The company 's headquarters are in Hayes , north west London . The core of the business is in the United Kingdom , where it produces biscuits , crisps and other snacks under a number of brand names including : McVitie 's ( biscuits ) , KP ( nuts ) , Hula Hoops ( snacks ) , McCoy 's ( crisps ) , Phileas Fogg ( crisps ) and Simmers . It acquired Carr 's of Carlisle in 1972 , including the Water biscuits . It also produces own brand products for supermarkets . United Biscuits was formed in 1948 from the merger between McVitie & Price and MacFarlane Lang . The company now manufactures in a number of countries across Europe , such as the Netherlands , France , Belgium . It recently sold its southern european business back to Kraft which in turn left the owner syndicate . The company 's main UK distribution centre is at Ashby-de-la-Zouch , where it also has a factory manufacturing KP Snacks . United Biscuits owned the Wimpy Bar fast food restaurant chain between 1977 and 1989 . It also previously owned the Pizzaland chain and the frozen and chilled food companies Youngs ( sold to become Youngs Bluecrest ) and Ross ( sold to H. J. Heinz Company ) . In September 2004 UB bought the UK company Jacob 's from Danone , drastically increasing its market share in the UK and increasing its estimated turnover to around £1bn . The United Biscuits Network was a radio network serving their factories across the UK. It folded in 1979 , but spawned the career of UK radio presenter Steve Allen and TV and radio personality Dale Winton . See also Jaffa cake External links United Biscuits History of United Biscuits Categories : Food manufacturers of the United Kingdom | Joint ventures | United Biscuits brands | Multinational companies | Companies based in London 