Take-home volumes of sliced and wrapped bread like Kingsmill have fallen by about 15pc over the past five years - Phil Noble/Reuters Hovis and Kingsmill are exploring a merger as Britain’s ...

Hovis is in talks of a merger with Kingsmill. (Image: Wikimedia Commons) Kingsmill-owner ABF has confirmed it is in talks to merge with Hovis in what would become Britain’s biggest bread maker.

The owners of Hovis and Kingsmill, two of Britain's leading bread producers, are in talks about a historic merger amid a decades-long decline in the sale of supermarket loaves. Sky News has learnt ...