Hundreds of jobs go as bakery business calls in administrators

HUNDREDS of jobs have been lost after a bakery business fell into administration.

More than 300 redundancies have been announced at Cooplands in Doncaster but a further 259 jobs have been saved in a pre-pack deal.

Adrian Berry and Daniel Butters, partners of Deloitte, have today been appointed as joint administrators of the sandwich and cake retailer, with 80 stores, 26 mobile sandwich vans and 562 employees.

Shortly after their appointment, the administrators sold 41 of the leasehold stores and the entire mobile sandwich van fleet through a pre-packaged sale, which secures 259 jobs.

However, it was also announced that 39 stores will shut, together with Coopland’s bakery and head office in Doncaster, resulting in the overall loss of 303 jobs.

Mr Berry said: “Cooplands has seen a recent deterioration in trading performance across its retail business, which combined with a significant fixed manufacturing cost, has resulted in unsustainable losses. Regrettably we have had to close 39 retail stores together with the bakery and head office in Doncaster. However, there is some positive news today with the sale of 41 retail stores and the entire mobile sandwich van business, which will preserve 259 jobs.”