Type
Closure
Country
United Kingdom
Region
Location of affected unit(s)
Sector
Manufacturing
Manufacture Of Food And Beverage
Manufacture Of Food Products
10 - Manufacture of food products

1,550 jobs
Number of planned job losses
Job loss
Announcement Date
4 April 2005
Employment effect (start)
Foreseen end date

Description

A bakery group with 1,550 employees went into administration yesterday after failing to overcome tough trading conditions and a fire at one of its factories. Rathbones Bakeries, which had sales of £100 million in 2004 and supplies Tesco and Morrisons, suffered the blaze at Carlisle in February 2005. Rathbones, which also features Harvestime and Fresha Bakeries, employs 444 staff at its Walsall head office, with another 409 at Leicester and the remainder at Peterborough, Carlisle, Wigan, Wakefield and Middlesbrough. As well as difficult trading conditions, Rathbones' Carlisle site was gutted in a fire that cost it millions of pounds. About 185 people worked at the factory.

In May 2005, Morrisons decided to take on part of the bakery operation saving up to 400 jobs.


Sources

  • 4 May 2005: The Guardian
  • 5 April 2005: The Guardian

Citation

Eurofound (2005), Rathbones Bakeries, Closure in United Kingdom, factsheet number 61367, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/61367.