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Jun 2023

Business

Farmers and creditors owed £7m after Ripon firm collapsed

Published: 7 Jun 2023, 13:20 BST

by Calvin Robinson Chief Reporter

Farmison&Co, which was based in Ripon.

Farmers and unsecured creditors were owed £7 million following the collapse of Ripon meat retailer Farmison&Co, administrators have revealed.

In an update, FRP Advisory estimated the unsecured creditors are unlikely to get any money back.

The report revealed that, despite investment from Scottish private investor Inverleith, Farmison incurred losses of £3.4 million in 2022 and continued to have cashflow problems going into January 2023.

FRP was appointed in April after Farmison collapsed.

The company was quickly acquired from administration by a consortium led by Andy Clark, former chief executive of Asda, for an undisclosed sum.

The new company has resumed trading under the Farmison name on the same Bondgate Green site.

Staff set for 31p in the pound

The report reveals staff were owed pay, unpaid pension contributions and holiday pay totalling £86,000 and are estimated to receive 31p in the pound.

HMRC, which is classed as a secondary preferential creditor, is owed £131,466. But administrators estimate it will not receive any payment, nor will the unsecured creditors owed £7 million.

Revived Farmison fully reopens Ripon shop

Hot Seat: Bringing Ripon firm Farmison back to life

The unsecured creditors include Maidenhead-based Copas Traditional Turkeys Ltd, which claimed £171,714 from the company.

London-based media group, Inceni Studios, is also owed £5,300. The company helped to make videos for Farmison.

Local firms affected include C and L Harrison of Grewelthorpe, which was owed £7,190, Roecliffe firm DB Engineering (Ripon), which was owed and Harrogate firm Studio One, which was owed £1,044.

A report by FRP Advisory said:

"It is currently estimated that there will not be sufficient funds available to make a distribution to unsecured creditors."

In response to the administrators report, a spokesperson for the new company said:

“We’re pleased to have rescued the business from administration, re-employing many of the team in Ripon and bringing back its hand-picked farmers from across the north of England.

“We’re already trading again and we’re grateful for the messages of support from customers.

“That positive reaction underlines how much potential we know there is for the kind of high-quality, traceable produce Farmison offers.

“The whole team is now focused on making Farmison the success we know it can be, serving customers who want to eat better meat.”

Farmison's new owners celebrated the full reopening of its Ripon shop, Cut by Farmison&Co, last weekend.

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Farmers and creditors owed £7m after Ripon firm collapsed

Staff set for 31p in the pound

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