Partner Article

Peters Bakery goes into administration

North East bakery retailer and wholesaler Peters Cathedral Bakers Limited - trading as Peters Bakery - have gone into administration.

Mark Firmin and Howard Smith of KPMG have been appointed as joint administrators of the firm, which has turnover of more than £12 million.

The family owned business has 58 stores across the North East as well as contracts with a number of supermarkets and a direct mobile sales operation, employing 403 staff.

On a freehold site on Durham’s Dragonville Industrial Estate it also has a 50,000 sq foot factory, full of modern equipment; the result of a total refit after a fire seven years ago.

Mark Firmin, KPMG’s Northern head of Restructuring and joint administrator, said: “The challenging retail environment on the high street is exacerbated by rising commodity and energy prices squeezing margins in this sector.

“These factors, along with reduced volumes with its wholesale customers, has led to the failure of this 46 year old family business.”

“We will continue to trade the bakery - which has a state of the art production facility, a 100-strong product range and a loyal workforce - while seeking a buyer and will be assessing and reviewing all aspects of the business.”
A number of redundancies are anticipated and will be confirmed in the coming days.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .