Administrator weighs up Cooke approaches

A RELATIVE of the founder of troubled Lancashire company Cooke Oils is one of a number of parties interested in buying its assets.

Burnley-based Cooke Oils and Company Fuel Cards were placed into administration last week with the immediate loss of more than 80 jobs.

Stephen Cooke – one of the family that originally founded the business, is working to form a consortium to buy Cooke Oil from administrators KPMG.

The Cooke family, which set up the business in 1845, ended its association with the current organisation in 1991 and now wants to buy the oil portion of the business out of administration.

Stephen, 41, who works in the legal sector, is working on his bid with a number of other local business people.

Paul Flint, joint administrator and associate partner at KPMG, said, “While Samuel Cooke & Co and Company Fuel Cards has ceased trading, we have received expressions of interest in the customer list and intellectual property from parties including a consortium led by Stephen Cooke.

“We are in the process of considering which buyer offers the best value; the ability to move quickly is a fundamental factor given the value of the assets erodes on a daily basis.”

The demise of the two companies is understood to relate to financial problems encountered by Company Fuel Cards – an issue which has been referred to the police.
 
Cooke Oils was an independent distributor of fuels and lubricants to the residential and commercial markets.