‘Intense’ talks to save Farmison & Co after buyout collapses
Intense negotiations are taking place over the bank holiday weekend to save one of Ripon’s largest employers .
Farmison, an online butcher based in Ripon, closed on Thursday with most of the 75-strong workforce being made redundant.
It is just a year since Scottish investor Inverleith backed the direct-to-consumer business and Farmison had recently run a £2m crowdfunding campaign, which it then dropped in February without taking the money.
The company had filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators on March 28, to provide a window of time to try and conclude a rescue deal.
It comes after buyout talks with another online butcher, Tom Hixson of Smithfield, fell through.
Efforts failed with Arvindar Singh and Ben Jones from FRP Advisory appointed joint administrators and most staff made redundant ahead of the bank holiday weekend.
Singh said: “Farmison had made significant investment in recent years in its operations as it aimed to carve out a differentiated brand and offering in the online retail space.
“However, it proved too heavy a burden to sustain without the uplift in sales that it had expected. Without a major capital injection, the business could not continue trading and we must now commence an asset sale.”
Despite sales doubling to £12m in 2021, the company then made a loss of £2.6m.
The Business Desk.com
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