B Riley & Sons abattoir falls into administration with 131 job losses

Burnley-based abattoir, B Riley & Sons, has been forced to close down after experiencing 'significant cashflow difficulties' resulting in 131 staff have being made redundant just before Christmas.​

Administrators from KPMG were appointed on December 16 2015 for B Riley & Sons and the notice of administration has been filed on the London Gazette.

B Riley & Sons is one of the largest abattoirs in the North of England working within halal beef and lamb verticals, as well as meat processing.

The business ceased trading earlier in December 2015, and upon appointment of the KPMG administrators, all 131 employees were made redundant just eight days before Christmas.

Paul Flint, associate partner at KPMG and joint administrator, said: "We are assisting the employees through this difficult time with making claims to the Redundancy Payments Office for their wages and other associated redundancy claims.

He added: "The business is one of the largest independent abattoirs in the North of England, holding BRC accreditation focusing primarily on sheep throughput for the Halal wholesale market in the UK and EU, but also having beef capabilities.

"The premises consist of an abattoir facility which was extended and fully renovated in October 2014 to enable throughput to increase to 12,000 sheep per week; a farm comprising three freehold dwellings; a butchers shop; and an additional 60 acres of agricultural land. We are now seeking a buyer for the business and its assets, and would urge any interested parties to contact the joint administrators as soon as possible."

B Riley & Sons are not available to comment at this time.