Enterprise Foods, a major UK wholesaler that supplied food to Morrisons, Co-op, and other retailers, has collapsed into liquidation with debts of more than £5 million, leading to the loss of 71 jobs. The company, which traded as Localist – The Food Merchant, entered liquidation less than a year after its latest rebranding.
Company History and Evolution
The business was originally formed in the mid-1990s as Food From Scotland Ltd, focusing on providing wholesale goods to small independent Scottish retailers. In 2001, it evolved into Enterprise Foods Ltd as it expanded its operations across the UK. The company rebranded as Localist – The Food Merchant last year, but the new identity failed to prevent its financial collapse.
Liquidation and Job Losses
George Lafferty of financial and real estate advisory firm BTG was appointed as liquidator, tasked with settling the company's debts and winding it up. Despite efforts by company directors to restructure the debt and prevent redundancies, the job losses became inevitable. In a March statement, Thomas McKay, managing partner of BTG in Scotland and Northern Ireland, said directors had attempted to restructure the debt, but when this was unsuccessful, the redundancies were "sadly inevitable."
McKay added: "There are many small suppliers to the business that are owed money, and the loss of this route to market will also have a serious knock-on effect on these food producers as well." He noted that BTG was working to assess all claims and determine whether any dividend would be paid to unsecured creditors, but it was "not likely to be significant, given the level of secured debts in the business."
Support for Affected Staff
McKay confirmed that BTG was working closely with those affected by the redundancies to help them access financial entitlements and support, including assistance from Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) and the Redundancy Payments Service.
Impact on Retailers
Morrisons and Co-op both told Convenience Store that they did not anticipate Enterprise Foods' demise would affect their supply chains. Morrisons stated it only worked with the company for a small number of products and was communicating with suppliers with a view to continuing the relationship "on a direct-to-store basis." Co-op had been supplied by Localist for some local food products. Following the collapse, Co-op began sending purchase orders directly to suppliers to prevent supply shortfalls, describing this as a temporary measure while it assessed whether to establish longer-term agreements.
