Talks aimed at securing the future of cake company Inter Link are expected to reach a conclusion next week.

By next Monday, 23 July, it is understood that Irish firm McCambridge will announce whether or not it will buy the troubled business, which has nine UK bakeries and one in Poland.

If a deal with McCambridge falls through, Inter Link said it would enter into discussions with other unnamed prospective buyers who have shown an interest.

Whoever takes over will have to re-finance Inter Link, which has run up a £63m bank debt.

The company’s chairman Jeremy Hamer said this week: "Talks are still ongoing but we haven’t quite got to the end. We’re awaiting a conclusion. We want to give everyone the surety of new ownership and re-financing."

Hamer added that he was not yet in a position to say what the outcome of the present discussions with McCambridge would be.

Earlier, McCambridge made an initial offer based on the condition that Barclays wrote off some of the debt. But the bank said it was unacceptable that it should lose out while shareholders profited from the deal.

The revised offer from the Irish business, which is the subject of the present round of talks, means that shareholders would get nothing. But the jobs of Inter Link’s 1,700 staff should be assured.