The administrator for UK baker Peters Cathedral Bakers, which went into administration last month, has sold the company to local peer Coopland & Son (Scarborough) Ltd.
KPMG said today (30 July) the deal for the company, which also trades as Peters Bakery, will safeguard 208 jobs across the business. Around 149 staff, however, will face redundancy.
Peters went into administration last month after the "challenging" retail environment and rising commodity costs squeezed margins.
Cooplands is a family business which sells savoury and confectionery goods to retail and wholesale customers, includes. The sale will include 22 Peters Bakery stores, a 50,000 sq ft factory and its Durham headquarters site.
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Sale of Peters Bakery saves 208 jobs
30 July 2012
Mark Firmin and Howard Smith of KPMG, joint administrators of Peters Bakery, announced today that they have sold the business to Coopland & Son (Scarborough) Ltd (trading as Cooplands) in a deal which safeguards a total of 208 jobs.
The sale to Cooplands, a Scarborough based family business which sells savoury and confectionary goods to retail and wholesale customers, includes;
· 22 of the Peters Bakery stores, involving the transfer of 129 store based staff
· Peters' 50,000 sq ft factory and headquarters site at Durham's Dragonville Industrial Estate, which sees 69 staff transferring
· Peters' retail van business, which sells baked goods to businesses and industrial estates (transferring 10 employees).
Unfortunately 34 Peters Bakery stores will immediately cease trading, resulting in 149 redundancies. Four staff in the distribution operation and two at head office have also been made redundant.
Mark Firmin, joint administrator and 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."
Original source: KPMG
