The directors of Sunfresh Bakers Ltd were asked to stump up more to buy their business out of administration after a revaluation by their bank.
According to documents from administrator MCR, directors Mark and Stephen Taylor purported to sell the Sunfresh bakery to a new company run by themselves Taylors the Bakers for £50,000 earlier this year after the bakery got into financial difficulty. The Taylors said that the original business would not have been able to continue if a buyer had not been found immediately, saving 140 jobs as a result. However, despite draft sales of £9.4m in the year to 1 October 2009, Sunfresh Bakers’ bank put Sunfresh into administration and, following a second valuation, asked the brothers to pay another £70,000. The Taylors have paid out £35,000 of this additional valuation and are paying off the rest in instalments.
Taylors the Bakers, based in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire produces oven-bottom muffins and, at the time of the sale, a spokeswoman said the company had the support of its clients.
MCR reported that a total of 167 creditors were owed £3.4m by Sunfresh, including Sainsbury’s (£78,751), Asda (£9,783) and Bako North Western (£29,789). But director Mark Taylor disputed some of these, including Asda.
Sunfresh’s last full accounts in November 2008 showed a pre-tax loss of £365,337 and net liabilities of more than £200,000. The company had to make 30 workers redundant earlier this year, due to a downturn in trade. Taylor said the company had taken back on 20 of these workers this year, thanks to an upturn in trade.
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