Farmers and creditors owed £7m after Ripon firm collapsed

Farmers and unsecured creditors were owed £7 million following the collapse of Ripon meat retailer Farmison&Co, administrators have revealed.

In an update, FRP Advisory estimated the unsecured creditors are unlikely to get any money back.

The report revealed that, despite investment from Scottish private investor Inverleith, Farmison incurred losses of £3.4 million in 2022 and continued to have cashflow problems going into January 2023.

FRP was appointed in April after Farmison collapsed.

The company was quickly acquired from administration by a consortium led by Andy Clark, former chief executive of Asda, for an undisclosed sum.

The new company has resumed trading under the Farmison name on the same Bondgate Green site.

Staff set for 31p in the pound

The report reveals staff were owed pay, unpaid pension contributions and holiday pay totalling £86,000 and are estimated to receive 31p in the pound.

HMRC, which is classed as a secondary preferential creditor, is owed £131,466. But administrators estimate it will not receive any payment, nor will the unsecured creditors owed £7 million.

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The unsecured creditors include Maidenhead-based Copas Traditional Turkeys Ltd, which claimed £171,714 from the company.

London-based media group, Inceni Studios, is also owed £5,300. The company helped to make videos for Farmison.

Local firms affected include C and L Harrison of Grewelthorpe, which was owed £7,190, Roecliffe firm DB Engineering (Ripon), which was owed and Harrogate firm Studio One, which was owed £1,044.

A report by FRP Advisory said:

“It is currently estimated that there will not be sufficient funds available to make a distribution to unsecured creditors.”

In response to the administrators report, a spokesperson for the new company said:

“We’re pleased to have rescued the business from administration, re-employing many of the team in Ripon and bringing back its hand-picked farmers from across the north of England.

“We’re already trading again and we’re grateful for the messages of support from customers.

“That positive reaction underlines how much potential we know there is for the kind of high-quality, traceable produce Farmison offers.

“The whole team is now focused on making Farmison the success we know it can be, serving customers who want to eat better meat.”

Farmison’s new owners celebrated the full reopening of its Ripon shop, Cut by Farmison&Co, last weekend.

 

Companies ‘unlikely’ to receive pay-out from Bleikers Smoke House, say administrators

Administrators dealing with the collapse of a food company founded in the Harrogate district have said it is “unlikely” its 108 unsecured creditors will receive any of the money they are owed.

Bleikers Smoke House Ltd fell into administration in April, when it was also revealed that the company was being investigated for possible food fraud.

Now, administrator FRP Advisory Ltd has revealed a growth in the price of raw materials and difficulty in finding temporary staff at Christmas put “pressure” on the company. The latest report said:

“In late March 2022, the company’s biggest customer (approx 50% of sales) notified the company of concerns regarding the provenance of goods supplied and withdrew its products from sale in its stores, ceasing all orders.

“Despite an ongoing dialogue and a number of audits being undertaken by the customer and its agents, no resolution could be reached.

“A confidential settlement was subsequently reached with the customer on April 26, 2022, which ended the relationship.

“The sudden loss of this customer’s business, combined with the already weakened financial position meant the company was no longer viable.”

The latest update reveals a sale of the company, founded in 1993 at Glasshouses Mill, was attempted in April but a buyer was not found. After the company entered administration, there were two parties interested in buying it, but they pulled out when news of the Food Standards Agency’s investigation emerged.

However, a sale to Sixto Strategic Sourcing LLC for a total price of £300,000 has since been agreed, and could see production restarted from Bleikers’ most recent home at Leeming Bar.

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As well as negotiating the sale, administrators reported they had secured the return of the company’s trademark and branding rights from a company owned by the children of Bleikers’ directors, Charles and Annabel Andrew.

The rights had been transferred within the last 12 months but were returned in order to facilitate a sale of the business, the report said.

Of the company’s 86 members of staff, just three have been retained on a self-employed basis to assist with specialist knowledge. A food hygiene specialist has been appointed to liaise with the environmental health office.

Administrators said the prospect of any of the company’s 108 outstanding creditors receiving any payment is “unlikely”.

Meanwhile, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it continues to investigate Bleikers Smoke House over allegations of food fraud.

Food fraud investigation into Bleiker’s Smokehouse

A business founded in the Harrogate district almost 30 years ago is being investigated for food fraud.

Bleiker’s Smokehouse, established in 1993 and previously based at Glasshouses Mill in Nidderdale, fell into administration at the end of April.

While administrators FRP Advisory seek a buyer for the business, the Food Standards Agency’s National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) has begun an investigation into allegations of food fraud.

Gavan Wafer, head of investigation at the NFCU, said:

“Our investigation into Bleikers Smokehouse Ltd is related to a number of alleged issues including concerns about their country of origin claims on some of their smoked salmon products. The NFCU has acted on intelligence it received and which has resulted in one arrest being made.

“It is vitally important that we ensure food is safe and what it says it is and that consumers and food businesses are confident in the authenticity of food they are buying. We would like to take the opportunity to thank North Yorkshire Police for assisting in the investigation and supporting this operation.”

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The business was founded by the Bleiker family from Burton Leonard, who stepped down as directors in 2006. At the time it fell into administration, Charles Andrew of Kirby Malzeard was the sole director.

The smokehouse had moved in recent years to a business park at Leeming Bar, employing 86 members of staff and supplying supermarkets across the UK.

On April 28, 38 people were made redundant before the company entered administration the following day.

A spokesman for FRP Advisory today said there was no further update on its work following news of the investigation.

At the end of April, Martyn Pullin, partner at FRP and joint administrator, said:

“Bleiker’s was a family operation with a track record of supporting both major and independent retailers. The loss of a significant contract left the business in a difficult financial position. Regrettably, the insolvency has meant that the business is no longer able to continue trading and redundancies have been made.

“We are on site and will work closely with impacted staff to help them access the support they need in making applications to the Redundancy Payments Office.

“We are now focused on exploring options to sell the business and its assets and encourage any interested parties to come forward.”