Harvestime fails and takes 400 staff with it

Just weeks after it changed owner-ship for the second time this year, the baker Harvestime (2005) has gone into administration, making more than 400 employees redundant.

Administrators took control of the business, which was formed from the failed firm New Rathbones in May, on Friday, November 18 and closed the Peterborough and Leicester bakeries, dismissing the workforce.

The company is now operating solely out of its Walsall site, where a further 30 redundancies have also been made.

Begbies Traynor administrator John Kelly said: "The company was losing £250,000 a week, so we had to take drastic action to curtail those losses. From what we can tell, Peterborough was in the process of being closed and any products that Leicester was making have been absorbed at Walsall or discontinued."

The administrators were considering refinancing the ?slimmed-down business but Kelly said that two potential buyers were interested in acquiring the assets.

On November 7, the majority shareholding of Harvestime was bought by Ian Allen, owner of Australian premium pie company Sargents, who began discussing strategies with suppliers.

It is believed that the bread and morning goods manufacturer lost, or failed to win, a major retailer contract before Allen bought it.

Harvestime rose from the ashes of New Rathbones on May 12 this year after its three bakeries were bought out of administration by a management team headed by the New Rathbones md John Bridson.

Kelly added: "It looks like the company had set itself up after going into administration the last time, with a view to increasing turnover, but that just didn't materialise."