Supermarket helps safe 175 jobs
Published: May 4, 2005
Supermarket chain Morrisons has rescued 175 jobs at the Wigan plant of collapsed Rathbones Bakeries.
Morrisons - and a new company in which it has a majority share, Rathbone Kear - has acquired some of the bakeries and equipment of Rathbones, in a £15.5m deal. It secures around 400 of the 1,550 jobs at risk since Rathbones went into administration last month.
Bakeries in Wigan, Wakefield, Middlesborough and Lydney, near Hereford, have been acquired under the deal. It also secures continuity of supply from Rathbones which had a £100m turnover last year, but put the blame for its problems on tough trading conditions and a fire which forced the closure of its Carlisle factory.
Rathbone Kear is a joint venture company owned by Morrisons and Harry Kear, who owned and successfully ran Rathbones prior to its sale to Greencore in 1997.
A spokeswoman for Morrisons said Rathbones had been a bread supplier for many years and it was keen to maintain supply of its products.
Administrators KPMG said today that talks were underway with another potential buyer for the rest of the businesses, with plants in Walsall, Leicester and Peterborough.
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