UK baker Peters Cathedral Bakers has gone into administration as the “challenging” retail environment and rising commodity costs continued to squeeze the firm’s margins.
The company, which also trades as Peters Bakery, has appointed Mark Firmin and Howard Smith of KPMG as joint administrators.
The Durham-based family business operates a network of 58 stores across the north-east of England, has contracts with leading supermarkets and a direct mobile sales operation. However, it has experienced reduced volumes with its wholesale customers as a result of the “challenging retail environment”, KPMG said in a statement.
The company is headquartered in Durham where it also has a 50,000 sq ft factory. Its most recent financial statement shows the company has a turnover of around GBP12m (US$18.6m).
“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,” said Mark Firmin, KPMG’s Northern head of restructuring and joint administrator.
KPMG said a number of redundancies are anticipated and will be confirmed in the coming days.
Peter’s Bakery did not provide further comment when contacted by just-food.
