THE Turkish owner of Carlisle's McVitie's biscuit factory has changed the name of its UK operation from United Biscuits to Pladis.

Yildiz Holdings bought United Biscuits in 2014.

Now it is combining all its global brands, which include Godiva and Ülker, as well as United Biscuits, under the names Pladis.

It comes from the from the Latin “Pleiades,” a seven-star cluster, which happens to be the symbol of Yıldız Holding’s Ülker brand.

The change does not affect the brand names of products produced at Carlisle, such as Carr's table water biscuits and McVitie's digestives.

Yildiz says that Pladis will have 26,000 employees and an annual revenue of £3.6bn.

Murat Ülker, chairman of Ylidiz Holdings, said: "It is of great importance to be innovative, consumer wise and open to new ideas in order to become a global company.

"As a pioneering company, we have now combined all of our brands under one ceiling.”