UK desserts maker Polestar Foods has continued to struggle, despite being sold to private-equity firm Privet Capital in November.
It has emerged today (31 January) that staff based at its Okehampton unit were not paid on Friday and that the factory is not in operation today.
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A Polestar spokesperson told just-food that it is “taking this issue seriously and realises that this is unsettling for staff. The Polestar team is working hard to rectify current problems and will update all employees as soon as possible”.
Polestar was formed in 2009 following the acquisition of two desserts businesses from Heinz.
Privet Capital acquired Okehampton, one of two Polestar sites, when the company was on the verge of “immediate collapse” in November, while administrators were appointed to the second site based in Leamington.
KPMG said last week (24 January) that after no viable offer was made for the Leamington Deserts business, it was closed, with immediate effect.
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By GlobalDataKPMG administrator Will Wright said: “We have had a number of discussions with interested parties, but no workable offer has been forthcoming; it is with regret that we are now closing Leamington Desserts with immediate effect. The business has always operated below capacity so a going concern sale was a tough challenge, and, unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were not able to secure a deal.”
