Oakdale administrator confident of sale

There is a good chance that Oakdale Bakeries will be sold as a going concern, according to administrator KPMG, which was called in to the troubled baker at the end of January.

Richard Fleming, joint administrator and restructuring partner at KPMG’s Leeds office, said he had received more than 40 enquiries about the business from interested parties in the last month.

Oakdale, which employs 350 staff across three sites in Doncaster, Morley and Wigan, produces own-label cakes, fruit pies, malt loaves and pies for leading supermarkets and foodservice customers. It is also understood to supply more than 50% of the UK’s own-label mini rolls.

However, competition had intensified in recent months and the £30M turnover firm had slid into the red, said Fleming: “The business has encountered difficulties as it has been making trading losses in a highly competitive environment.”

Oakdale comprises a leasehold site in Morley, Leeds, including 3,120 square metres of manufacturing facilities and 183 square metres of office space; freehold premises in Doncaster, including 7,270 square metres of manufacturing and 388 square metres of office space; and freehold premises in Wigan including 2,470 square metres of manufacturing space and 276 square metres of office space.

The company, which was sold to a management team led by Des Kingsley in August 2004, snapped up the Sunmalt malt loaf brand from Allied Bakeries just two months later in October 2004, and has since invested heavily in its Doncaster site with new purpose-built warehousing and production facilities.