Newbridge Bakery (Birmingham Retail), with its beleaguered Firkins brand, has gone into liquidation, British Baker has discovered.
The company, supplied by Oliver Adams, said in a statement that: “Newbridge Bakery (Birmingham Retail) has ceased to trade and has started a liquidation process.”
Notices have been posted on the doors of its 22 shops, stating that the stores are closed.
One caller told British Baker that his wife received a phone call telling her not to go to work the next day. Employees have not yet received any formal correspondence.
An Oliver Adams spokeswoman said that craft chain Oliver Adams’ 28 stores in Northampton and the surrounding areas were not affected.
Records at Companies House suggest that Mark Jarvis, managing director, is the only remaining director of the Newbridge company, appointed on 29 April 2014. British Baker has not yet been able to contact Jarvis.
Former directors William Seary and Simon Webber, who were appointed on 28 and 29 April 2014 respectively, had their appointments terminated on 18 March this year, according to records at Companies House.
Oliver Adams and Margaret Adams of Oliver Adams had their appointments as directors terminated on 28 April 2014.
Chequered past
The 145-year-old Firkins brand has had a chequered recent history, and has come under a number of ownerships.
Its 54 shops first went into administration in 2006, but the chain was rescued by Ian Bolderston, supported by flour miller Heygates. It then went into administration again and was bought by Bolderston again, twice.
It closed its production bakery in West Bromwich in 2011. The 33 remaining shops were supplied by Oliver Adams from then on, although just 22 shops now remain.
Bolderston was in employment tribunal last summer over a bizarre plot, in Easter 2014, to sabotage the firm by changing locks at the shops.
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