Fords Bakery goes under, making 60 redundant

MORE than 60 staff have been made redundant and uncertainty hangs over a further 87 jobs after Prestonpans-based Fords Bakery and its retail business went into administration yesterday.

The retail side of the business, which operated nine stores in the Edinburgh and Lothian areas, has ceased trading immediately with the loss of 41 jobs.

Administrators from KPMG have also made 26 staff at the bakery and confectionery company redundant with the remaining 87 kept on as they seek a buyer for the business as a going concern.

Blair Nimmo, head of restructuring for KPMG in Scotland, blamed "severe cash flow difficulties" for the problems at the bakery firm which had an annual turnover of 5 million and supplied supermarkets including ScotMid, food service companies and independent bakeries in east and central Scotland.

Nimmo said: "Like many other businesses in its sector, it has suffered from the downturn and the difficult economic conditions. It has also struggled to cope with increases in raw material costs and from production inefficiencies."

It is hoped the bakery business will attract a buyer.

"Fords Bakery has an excellent reputation for quality and service, which will make it an attractive opportunity for potential purchasers," Mr Nimmo said. "It is with regret that we have had to make 26 redundancies at Fords Bakery and 41 redundancies at Fords Retail Limited.

"We are working with government agencies to ensure employees' issues are dealt with as best as possible."

Fords Retail, which had a turnover of 1m, was loss– making.