Leamington Desserts future rests on knife edge
The firm produces own-label frozen desserts for top supermarkets and food service customers, and although it has continued trading since KPMG took over on November 30, the news will come as a blow for just over 160 staff employed at its Leamington site.
Joint administrator Will Wright, who has run the business since KPMG stepped in, told FoodManufacture.co.uk this afternoon: "We've had no offers into the business, and we're working through the next steps now. We are still talking to one interested party though."
Last gasp takeover?
Wright revealed yesterday that the sale deadline was "late" last night, and asked if it could be difficult for Leamington to continue as a going concern if a buyer was not found by then, he said, “That is probably true, but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
Nearly two weeks ago he said KPMG was aiming to sell a working business before Christmas, and that there had been “several expressions of interest” in the Polestar Foods subsidiary, with interested parties even conducting site visits.
According to a site advert, Leamington Desserts has an annual turnover of around £10.5m, split between retail (approximately 65%) and food service (35%) customers, while its production facility covers 5,740m2.
The remainder of Polestar, which includes Oakhampton Desserts, is not in administration, after Privet Capital injected cash at the start of December that saved 255 jobs at the firm's Oakhampton factory site, but failed to secure Leamington’s future.
Rest of Polestar saved
Polestar hit the headlines last month after FoodManufacture.co.uk revealed that chief executive Keith Ellis had stepped down from the firm after board-level disagreements, while suppliers began complaining to this publication about late payment.
Events came to a head earlier in December when Privet Capital acquired 100% of PoleStar’s equity to prevent its “immediate collapse”, while Centric Commercial Finance provided facilities to support the firm’s buyout and growth.
Privet director Ian Astley said: “Privet’s investement will support Polestar’s working capital requirements at Okehampton.” But he added that its plans did not extend to Leamington:
“Despite exhaustive efforts in considering the future of the company, regrettably, we have been forced to appoint administrators to the significantly loss-making Leamington factory."
