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Simon Smith, formerly commercial director at Elkes, has been appointed marketing director of the merged entity.

Ward, who joined the company in October last year and was previously commercial director at Eden Vale, left this week. It is not known whether he had a job to go to.

The merged business will be based in Batley, West Yorkshire, headquarters of Fox's Biscuits. The company has not yet been given a name.

The Fox's name is the stronger of the two, although Elkes is a brand name in its own right.

The activity follows a statement to the City in September announcing Northern Foods' intention to "investigate potential synergies" between the two companies. It decided to integrate the firms, forming a single company with a new board of directors.

No decision has yet been made on the viability of brands or the likelihood of brands or employees being axed.

Fox's Biscuits spent only £38,909 on advertising over the past year, according to Nielsen Media Research, with no TV advertising. The bulk of that spend went on the Rocky range.

Fox's Biscuits became part of Northern Foods in 1977. It makes a wide range of branded biscuits as well as customer label products, principally for Marks & Spencer and other major high-street retailers.

Uttoxeter company Elkes Biscuits produces sweet and semi-sweet biscuits, mainly under retailers' own labels.

In November, Northern Foods, which also owns the Goodfellas Pizza, Dalepak and Bowyers pork pie brands, sold Fox's Confectionery to a management buy-in team.

Northern Foods group chief executive Jo Stewart resigned at the beginning of September following tough performance figures that highlighted difficulties within the business.

The figures showed rising market pressures, including higher chocolate costs forcing price increases in biscuits.