WATSON & Watson, a Glasgow aluminium foil tray manufacturer run by two brothers, has been bought for an undisclosed sum by Nicholl Food Packaging, a company based at Cannock in Staffordshire.

The Watson business was established in 1990 and is based at Port Dundas business park. Neither company would give full details of the transaction, beyond saying that Richard Watson will be joining the board of Nicholl Food Packaging, while brother James takes on a ''senior executive'' role.

Accounts obtained from Companies House show that Watson & Watson posted a pre-tax profit of (pounds) 332,000 in 2003, up from (pounds) 242,000 the previous year, while shareholders' funds grew to (pounds) 1m from (pounds) 781,000.

The Nicholl Group, of which the acquirer is a part, claims to be Europe's largest manufacturer and distributor of aluminium foil trays. In a statement, Nicholl said: ''Both companies will benefit from the consolidation of their raw material purchasing and distribution''. It added: ''Best-fit manufacturing synergies and further automation will continue to drive down costs in a very competitive multi-raw material stream market place.''

Richard Watson commented: ''This deal offers us the chance of security going forward and we eagerly anticipate the challenge of working in the multi-disciplinary environment of the successful Nicholl Group.''