Consortium submits bid to bring back Ripon firm Farmison

A consortium led by Farmison & Co founder John Pallagi has submitted a bid to bring back the firm.

The premium online meat retailer ceased trading nine days ago and went into administration with the loss of 75 jobs.

But Mr Pallagi said he and two “high profile Yorkshire businessmen” made an offer last night to administrator FRP to buy the business and its assets.

He said the offer, if accepted, would revive Farmison and provide jobs for 50 staff.

Mr Pallagi said the consortium believed in the business model and recognised the value of the firm to Ripon. He added:

“Farmison is very important to Ripon and I am thrilled that we have attracted the interest of high profile Yorkshire businessmen with proven track records.

“It’s great that we’ve got to this point but we are not there yet.”

FRP said on Wednesday it planned to begin the sale of assets. It will now assess the bid before deciding whether to accept it.

Mr Pallagi said he hoped to have an answer by midday Monday so Farmison could operate again as quickly as possible and “create the best level of continuity possible”.

Not only have jobs been lost, but the supply chain has also been interrupted.

Last year Mr Pallagi sold the award-winning firm, whose customers include Harrods and Fortnum & Mason, to Scottish private investors Inverleith LLP.

Mr Pallagi remained as chief executive and a new three-year business plan was agreed.

FRP’s statement on Wednesday outlined the issues that brought down the award-winning company after the takeover. It said:

“The business recently underwent a fundraising process to secure external investment to support its business plan but did not secure a sufficient level of interest.

“Following a period of significant operational investment, the business has not generated the required level of revenues to sustain its high cost base.”

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Assets to be sold at failed Ripon firm Farmison

Administrators running collapsed Ripon firm Farmison & Co said today it planned to begin the sale of assets.

FRP took charge of the company on Thursday, when it ceased trading and most staff lost their jobs.

Farmison co-founder John Pallagi held talks over the bank holiday with a consortium led by two Yorkshire businessmen about reviving the business.

But there has been no news of a deal since and FRP has now issued a statement clarifying the situation.

The statement outlined the problems that brought down the award-winning company. It said:

“The business recently underwent a fundraising process to secure external investment to support its business plan but did not secure a sufficient level of interest.

“Following a period of significant operational investment, the business has not generated the required level of revenues to sustain its high cost base.

“In recent weeks interest in the business and assets has been explored but a transaction could not be completed, and the directors have therefore placed the company into administration.”

The statement confirmed Farmison had ceased trading, adding:

“Regrettably, the majority of its 75 roles were made redundant. A skeleton staff has been retained to support the joint administrators in fulfilling their duties as they move towards an asset sale, notably the brand, goodwill and intellectual property.”

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Arvindar Jit Singh, partner at FRP and joint administrator of Farmison, said:

“Farmison had made significant investment in recent years in its operations as it aimed to carve out a differentiated brand and offering in the online retail space.

“However, it proved too heavy a burden to sustain without the uplift in sales that it had expected.

“Without a major capital injection, the business could not continue trading and we must now commence an asset sale. We encourage any interested parties to come forward.

“In the meantime, we have a specialist team working with impacted staff to access support through the Redundancy Payments Service.”

Customers and creditors can contact the administrators by emailing farmison@frpadvisory.com.

‘Intense’ talks to save Ripon firm Farmison after buyout collapses

Intense negotiations are taking place over the bank holiday weekend to save one of Ripon’s largest employers .

Premium meat retailer Farmison & Co ceased trading on Thursday and entered administration. Most of the 92 staff were made redundant.

All items on the company’s website are currently listed as ‘out of stock’.

Farmison co-founder John Pallagi told the Stray Ferret he was talking to a consortium led by two Yorkshire businessmen about a management buyout.

It comes after buyout talks with another online butcher, Tom Hixson of Smithfield, fell through.

Mr Pallagi said:

“I hope to have some news by the end of the long weekend.

“Farmison isn’t trading at the moment but I haven’t given up hope. We are an amazing business and this is a great opportunity.

“We have half a million people on our database and an established UK brand that has won many awards. There’s every reason to keep this company alive.”

Mr Pallagi said last night he had been engaged in 48 hours of exhausting talks with the potential new owners after administrators FRP took control of the company on Maundy Thursday.

He said the firm had serviced all orders that had been placed and a “small working team” remained on site to deal with any unresolved issues.

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Last year Mr Pallagi sold Farmison, whose customers include Harrods and Fortnum & Mason, to Scottish private investors Inverleith LLP.

He remained as chief executive and a new three-year business plan was agreed. But when the plan faltered he approached Ripon and Skipton Conservative MP Julian Smith and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for help.

Mr Pallagi said:

“I’m a fighter. I’ve been in this business for 21 years and I’m confident we can turn around this wrong turn that we’ve taken.”

Mr Pallagi started Farmison to work with local farmers and encourage people to ‘eat better meat’.

Despite sales doubling to £12m in 2021, the company then made a loss of £2.6m.