Tindale and Stanton has been rescued from administration securing almost 160 jobs in the process.

Joint administrators Ian Stokoe and Ian Green of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, announced the completion of the sale of the business and assets of Tindale & Stanton Limited to Hobson Foods Limited, on 11 June 2008.

Hobson Foods is a newly formed company by former T&S managing director Peter Frankland. He is now director of Hobson Foods, which will continue to trade under the T&S brand name.

It will take over the operation of T&S’s two existing main production facilities in Burnopfield, employing around 115 people, and the smaller bakery in Gateshead, employing around 45 people.

Frankland said: “This will permit Hobson Foods to protect almost 160 jobs in the region and maintain a long association with the area. We welcome this opportunity to preserve the skills of the highly motivated team based in Burnopfield and Gateshead and look forward to a successful future.”

Ian Stokoe, joint administrator and director at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, said the deal would "provide certainty for customers and employees".

He added: “It is only due to the strong support and cooperation of the employees and the company’s existing customer and supplier base since our appointment as administrators some six weeks ago, that we have been able to continue to run the business.”

Tindale & Stanton had a workforce of around 300 people, but due to a number of factors including economic climate “we have now restructured the business”, explained Frankland. Around 140 jobs had been lost at T&S’s Burnopfield and Gateshead premises.

Tindale & Stanton supply a range of bakery products to supermarkets, foodservice customers and a number of smaller retailers.