Business advisory firm Quantuma has secured the future of D&A Seafood Solutions Ltd in a pre-pack sale to Ramus, a supplier of premium quality fresh fish and seafood.
D&A Seafood entered into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) in April of this year following a series of ‘challenging circumstances’. Ultimately, the CVA was not viable and failed, which led to the business entering into administration.
Join administrators
Quantuma managing directors Sean Bucknall and Elias Paourou were appointed joint administrators on 31 October.
Ramus has taken on the D&A Seafood Solutions site in Grimsby and all employees were transferred to the purchaser under TUPE – Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) – regulations. The sale has protected the jobs of the 32 members of staff working for D&A.
Founded in 2015, D&A Seafood Solutions reported turnover of circa £4.5m in 2023. It supplies fish and seafood to retailers, restaurants, hotels and caterers from its BRC accredited site.
Insolvencies
Research by law firm Shakespeare Martineau found that the manufacturing sector accounted for 11% of UK administration in 2023. However, the number of insolvencies across the food and drink industry have declined during 2024 when compared with the previous year.
Analysis by Interpath Advisory director and national head of food and drink, Thomas Swiers, has shown that on average there were 34 F&B insolvencies between January and June 2024, down from a monthly average of 40 throughout the entirety of 2023.
However, the industry has yet to reach pre-pandemic levels and a relatively low rate of insolvencies reported in July followed a burst of activity in the early summer.
Meanwhile, Nick Stockley, partner at Sussex-based solicitors firm Mayo Wynne Baxter, shed light on the administration process and laid out the options facing food and drink firms in financial difficulty.
