Deal saves 150 jobs at bakery chain
BAKERY chain Cooplands has been bought out of administration in a deal which saves 150 jobs at the business.
29 stores, the whole Cooplands portfolio, has been acquired by Cooplands Retail Limited, formerly associated with the same directors as Alison’s Coffee Shop, which had traded as Cooplands since its initial administration last year.
The sole director of Cooplands Retail is George Burdett, after turnaround business Resolve resigned via its Investaone Ltd company.
The Doncaster-based business which traded in South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire went into administration last week when Stephen Parker and Trevor Binyon, partners at London-based Opus Restructuring LLP were appointed as administrators on 2 November 2016.
It had followed a period of sustained cash flow pressure due to higher manufacturing costs and sluggish sales. A CVA was agreed with creditors, but it fell through forcing the chain into administration.
But the business and certain assets of Alison’s Coffee Shop have now been acquired, with the 150 staff employed (earlier estimates had suggested closer to 200 staff) employed by ACS have been retained, and the business continues to trade as Cooplands.
A spokesman for Cooplands Retail Limited said: “We are pleased to be continuing the hard work that had gone on over the preceding two years to return Cooplands to its former glories. An entirely new product range is on sale and an ever increasing % of product is made in house at the original bakery of Cooplands in Doncaster. Customers are returning and sales are increasing once more.
“We are fiercely proud of Coopland’s Yorkshire roots and we believe we offer a genuine and value alternative to the large national bakery chains and supermarkets”.
Stephen Parker, partner at Opus Restructuring LLP commented: “It would have been a tragedy if such a well-known local business as Cooplands had failed after being a fixture in its region ever since it was originally established in 1885. We are pleased to see it survive and continue to serve its loyal customer base.”
