Halal meat supplier sold out of administration, saving 150 jobs

Preston-based Gafoor Poultry Products processes meat for both traditional halal and mainstream UK markets.

It supplies the retail, wholesale, catering and hospitality industries, as well as government departments.

When the business reportedly suffered reduced sales, administrator Irwin Insolvency was appointed to handle its affairs at the end of last month.

Irwin reported that sales had reduced in the past year as a result of the business encountering some trading difficulties and some bad debts.

The company’s assets have now been sold to Gafoor Pure Halal. The company is registered to an address in Leicester with a director listed as Ozayr Patel. Patel is a member of the family that also controlled the original company.

Creditors meeting​

A meeting of creditors is due to take place on August 24.

The firm says it hopes there will be no interruption of supply.

Three brothers founded preston-based Gafoor Poultry Products in 1964 to supply halal poultry to local residents in the Preston area.

In the year to November 2010, the company posted a pre-tax profit of £1.48M on a turnover of £52.4M, employing 138 staff.

This was an increase from its 2008 sales of £36.5M but it also recorded a pre-tax loss of £1.08M in that year.

£4M upgrade​

In December 2010 it invested £4M in upgrading the machinery at its factory. A further capital investment was made to bring the company’s environmental commitments in line with UK/EU legislation. It also announced plans to invest further funds in buying local farmland.

It owns and works with independent farms within a 50-mile radius of the plant.

The World Halal Forum valued the global halal food market at between $600 and $650M in 2009. A recent report from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life states that 26% of the global population will be Muslim by 2030.