Investors hope to hook Cumbrian Seafoods

19-Oct-2011 - Last updated on 21-Oct-2011 at 09:55 GMT

Cumbrian Seafoods is fishing for a buyer or investors

Bidders are lining up for Cumbrian Seafoods, which has confirmed it is exploring options for a sell-off.

The family business, which was established in 2007 and specialises in fish products for supermarkets, said it had recovered from a difficult trading period earlier in the year. But it added it was open minded about either a complete sale or allowing investors to take a stake in the business.

A statement said: “Further to the recent press speculation, we have received several approaches from parties wanting to either invest into, or buy this business. We have engaged KPMG Corporate Finance to explore these and a number of other options on our behalf.

“Their engagement has seen significant additional interest, which they are now assessing.”

In the summer, some Cumbrian-supplied products were withdrawn from sale in UK supermarkets over concerns about the quality of the pangasius fish they contained. The freshwater fish is also known as the Vietnamese river cobbler and is part of the catfish family.

Unprecedented inflation

The Cumbrian statement continued: “Although the business suffered earlier this summer from the pangasius issue and unprecedented levels of raw material inflation, most of the corrective actions are now in place. We have a sound business model with blue chip customers, good employees and an outstanding supply base.”

Cumbrian is based in Seaham, a site which opened in 2007 after an £18M investment. It also operates factories in Whitehaven and Amble and has a total workforce of around 700. It claims to supply all leading supermarket chains in the UK and says it is Asda’s main supplier of chilled cod and haddock.

The business is due to file its latest accounts at Companies House in December. The most recent figures, for the year to March 28 2010, revealed a pre-tax £2.7M profit on turnover of £155.5M, compared with a loss of £3.6M the previous year.

Managing director Howard Sims took the helm in April.

Meanwhile, to avoid a costly product recall for your firm’s products, book your place at Food Manufacture’s Product Recall Conference 2011. This one-day event will take place on Wednesday, November 23 at the National Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham.

To book your place at this key business event click here, telephone 01293 610433 or email Rachel.cannon@wrbm.com.