Gift firm is repackaged

A LANCASHIRE business which packaged branded goods to sell as gift sets in major retailers has been bought out of administration.

The Gift Pack Company, which was owned by majority-owned by Rachel Muter, made sales of £8.3m in 2010 but a weaker retail market meant trading suffered last year, when the firm made sales of £5.5m.

Jeremy Woodside and Chris Ratten from then Manchester office of accountants RSM Tenon were appointed as joint administrators to the Ribchester-based company, which supplied products to Debemhams, Sainsbury’s Tesco, Asda, Waitrose and others, on March 6.

A spokeswoman for RSM Tenon said the company “had experienced a poor trading period due to the highly seasonal nature of the business”.

She added that the business has since been sold to Gift Creation & Design Ltd, which Companies House records show is run by Ms Muter’s former co-directors and minority shareholders David & Michael Brennand alongside an associated pension fund.

In August last year, Gift Pack Company agreed a new £6.1m working capital facility with RBS.