Peters Bakery sold by administrators

30-Jul-2012 - Last updated on 31-Jul-2012 at 10:32 GMT

Peters Bakery has been bought by Coopland & Son (Scarborough)

Supermarket supplier Peters Bakery has been sold by its joint administrators, Mark Firmin and Howard Smith of KPMG.

The business has been bought by Coopland & Son (Scarborough), a Scarborough-based family business which sells savoury and confectionery goods to retail and wholesale customers.

The sale to Coopland includes Peters’ 4,650m2 factory and headquarters site at Durham’s Dragonville Industrial Estate, with 69 staff transferring to the new owner.

In addition, Coopland is taking 22 of the Peters Bakery stores, involving the transfer of 129 store-based staff, and Peters’ retail van business, which sells baked goods to businesses and industrial estates (transferring 10 employees).

However, the remaining 34 Peters Bakery stores have ceased trading, resulting in 149 redundancies. Four staff in the distribution operation and two at head office have also been made redundant.

Mark Firmin, regional head of restructuring at KPMG, said: “We undertook negotiations with several interested parties and this deal represents the best outcome for both the creditors and the employees of the company.

“It means that as much of the business as possible will continue to trade under the new ownership of Cooplands, safeguarding more than 200 jobs.”