Pork producer faces collapse after administrators alerted again

A Midlands pork producer and wholesaler has edged closer to collapse after posting a second notice of intention (NOI) to appoint administrators.

The move follows a similar NOI that was posted last week.

FA Gill known as Gills Sausages began life back in 1880, working with local butchers in Wolverhampton. It went on to establish a bacon factory at Parkfields in 1934 where its operations remain.

Last April, the family business was acquired by HLD Electric, which moved the registered office for the business to Winfield, Leicester.

Gills has allegedly cut staff according to the Express & Star, due to a lack of supply of pigs for slaughter.

The NOI filed by representatives from Addleshaw Goddard, will protect the firm from any creditor action for a period of around ten days while the company attempts to find a way forward.

In its last accounts before it was acquired, Gills employed 211 staff and reported a turnover of £39.4m in 2021, which was down from £42.7m in 2020. Gills also posted a loss of £172k which was retained by its reserves.

Directors said the firm was still feeling the effects of the pandemic in September 2021, especially from staff absences earlier in the year. The additional costs of working with changing restrictions, the challenging trading conditions as well the introduction of Brexit-related regulations created a “low pig price and a serious backlog of heavy fatty pigs waiting on farms”.

It said that regulators “are still acting as if unaware of the real challenges presented by Covid and Brexit.

“We have seen the first hand impacts of Covid shutdowns in terms of reduced demand and sale, but also in personal suffering of colleagues battling with the toxic legacies of closed schools and lockdowns.

“We recall that Ronald Reagan said the most terrifying words in the English language in a crisis in the USA were – “I’m from the Government and I am here to help”. The same sentiment can be echoed most days in the UK and that is not a great accolade and they never deliver the promised help.”

Gills has been contacted for comment with no response received.