175 jobs lost as administrators abandon attempts to save manufacturer

Administrators have abandoned attempts to save a West Midlands manufacturer after exhausting funding options to keep the business afloat.

Administrators from KPMG said they had been left with no alternative than to wind down the operations of Hereford-based Gelpack Industrial and Gelpack Excelsior.

As a result, 175 members of staff have been made redundant.

A skeleton staff of around 25 workers have been retained by the administrators to help fulfil outstanding orders and assist with the wind-down process.

Chris Pole and Mark Orton had been appointed joint administrators to the two companies on August 3.

They had hoped to secure funding which may have offered the business a chance of survival.

However, Mr Orton said that after being unable to obtain funding to support continued trading, steps had had to be implemented to effect an orderly wind-down of the business.

Mr Orton, a partner at KPMG, said: “We are in talks with a number of interested parties, and over the coming days and weeks, our principal focus is seeking a buyer for some or all of the businesses’ assets.

“However, without funding for the businesses, Gelpack Industrial and Gelpack Excelsior were unable to continue trading. We will now work to wind down the businesses, providing support for the employees and exploring options to realise assets.”

In May Gelpack revealed it had secured a £10m asset-based lending (ABL) facility through business financier, Bibby Financial Services but this proved insufficient to save the business.