Administrators have been appointed to sell the assets of the UK’s Yorkshire-based potato processing firm M&F, which has collapsed with the loss of 90 jobs.
The company, which supplied peeled, chipped and sliced potatoes to major supermarket chains, “lost a significant customer which led to the collapse of the business”, administrators at Begbies Traynor said yesterday (22 March). The customer has not been named.
Joint administrator Andrew MacKenzie said: “The business was trading well, despite tight margins in the sector, prior to the loss of one major contract. It was clear very quickly that without the same level of revenue the business had no way to cover its costs, and unfortunately the doors had been closed on 10 March before our appointment.”
M&F generates annual turnover of GBP9m (US$11.2m). Its existing factory in Woodmansey had been able to process more than 100,000 tonnes of potatoes and other root vegetables a year.
MacKenzie said the firm was also planning the development of a new GBP4.4m anaerobic digestion plant near the factory “to save hundreds of thousands of pounds in waste disposal costs, and generate an additional GBP400,000 of revenue”.
“We are hopeful that there will be interested parties who may want to operate the plant again, and will acquire the site as it is ready to go and has a readily available local workforce,” MacKenzie said. “The potential for the waste plant, with all permissions secured, make this potentially attractive for trade buyers too.”
