The Sunday Times reported that first-round bids for Birds Eye were placed on Friday, and that the company is also attracting interest from private equity investors including BC Partners and Blackstone.

This interest from Thailand means that Birds Eye are now the second big British food brand to attract interest from Asia. Earlier in the month, popular British cereal Weetabix was bought by China’s Bright Food in a deal that put the firm’s value at £1.2 billion.

The belief is that CP sees potential to expand Birds Eye into eastern Europe and Asia, where there is a smaller frozen food market. It is thought that they may work with another private equity firm so they can make an offer for all of Birds Eye.

CP, which boasts annual sales of around £6 billion and is Thailand’s biggest food producer, is already well-established in the UK. It has a factory which makes own-label food for Tesco and other supermarkets in Newmarket and a main office near Kidderminster.

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Two brands are incorporated into President Engineering Group Limited. These are cryogenic gas valve producer Bestobell and water control equipment maker Conflow.

Since a management buyout took place around a year ago, President has seen exports rise by 51%, while its sales have gone up by 44% overall.

Directors Mark Henley, Marie Cooper and John Waddington joined forces to form the organisation, with the support of a £1 million initial investment.

In total, 80% of the firm’s turnover is now accounted for by exports, with 100 workers employed at the organisation’s President Park facility.

As well as investing heavily in plant and machinery, the directors have previously taken steps to increase the size of the company’s workforce by 15%.

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During a meeting with oil industry delegates from Brazil in Aberdeen, Scottish Secretary Michael Moore urged North Sea-based companies to investigate the possibility of taking their businesses across the Atlantic to exploit newly-discovered oil reserves in the South American state.

Mr Moore said: “The skills and ingenuity acquired by Scottish workers in the North Sea over the past 40 years are recognised as world-class and they offer a powerful resource for our counterparts in markets around the world, such as Brazil, to tap into.

“It is clear that Brazil’s oil and gas sector has entered a unique and exciting time, and with Aberdeen and the North Sea’s long and successful pedigree of oil and gas exploration, there is a truly fantastic opportunity for companies here in Scotland to export their wealth of accumulated knowledge and expertise.”

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According to the poll, the number of exporting companies has risen from 22% to 32%. However, the survey of 8,000 businesses found that 20% felt poor transport connections were stopping them from exporting. The figure is even higher in Northern Ireland, at 32%, and Scotland at 34%.

41% of businesses also said that the price of trade connections made it difficult for them to export and 23% of businesses also flagged up transport links within Britain as a problem.

In response, the British Chambers of Commerce are calling for measures to help companies to export, including greater airport capacity in the south east, the scrapping of airline tax rises, road tolls and introducing measures to get private businesses investing in infrastructure.

John Longworth, the BCC director general said that encouraging British businesses to export should be a “number one priority” for the Government, as exports will be “vital” in “creating and sustaining an economic recovery.”

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At an event to mark the Leeds Gold Business Programme, chief executive Tom Riordan told businesses that more could be done to work on the city’s twinning arrangement with the city of Hanzhou in Eastern China.

Using the games to promote themselves companies in the Leeds City Region could improve job opportunities and strengthen trade links.

Speaking at a panel meeting held at Leeds Met‘s Rose Bowl Mr Riordan said: “I think we have a responsibility to build on this twinning and use the Olympics as a springboard for that relationship to go to the next level.

“It’s all about providing a programme of activities to allow those connections to happen.”

Professor John Shutt, Leeds Business School professor and project manager of the British Council China Research Project, said: “China’s priority is to accelerate economic restructuring and with its latest five year plan, will create new opportunities to companies in Leeds in high tech manufacturing, IT and research.”

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