140-year-old bakery firm is plunged into administration

A LEADING Scots bakery went into administration yesterday after nearly 140 years of production.

Stirlingshire-based Mathiesons, which employs more than 350 people throughout Scotland, was established in Falkirk in 1872.

The business was run by the Mathieson family until July 2009 when a private equity firm, the Symphony Investment Fund, bought a controlling stake in the company.

Last night, a spokeswoman for accountants Deloittes, who are handling the administration, said the firm would continue trading while attempts were made to find a buyer.

There are no plans for redundancies at this stage.

John Reid, from Deloittes, said he is hopeful that a buyer will be found.

He added: "It has gone into administration and we were appointed administrators on Tuesday afternoon. They employ 350 people and there is quite a large retail estate. All the stores are in Scotland, plus the bakery which serves wholesale customers.

"They are still trading and all the stores are open and plan to continue trading. We have a number of parties who are interested in buying."

The baker's former managing director, George Stevenson, who had run the company for 30 years, became non-executive chairman after the buyout.

A series of redundancies were made last year to save cash, but Deloittes said they had not been enough to return the company to profitability. In addition to their high street outlets, the firm supplies products to a number of leading retailers such as Asda and Marks & Spencer.

In a statement, Deloittes said that Mathiesons, which has previously had revenues of 9m a year, had been "unable to support an over-burdened cost base". The business was put up for sale early in 2010 but the deal could not be completed.

The award-winning firm, now based in Larbert, Stirlingshire, has 24 shops and seven units sited around central Scotland.

Making a range of products from cakes and pastries to savouries, Mr Reid said the bakery had become synonymous with quality and is a recognisable brand in Central Scotland.

He added: "The business has been loss-making for quite a while.

"It's a question of ensuring there is sufficient volume going through the bakery to ensure profitability.

"The business is in financial difficulty but the administrator is empowered to maintain the trading of the company."