Suppliers
Frequently asked questions for suppliers
What does ‘going into administration’ mean?
Going into administration means the Company is being taken under the management of an administrator (a licensed insolvency practitioner). The administrator assumes control of the Company from the current directors Administration is one of a number of insolvency processes.
What is an administrator?
An administrator is an officer of the Court and is qualified to manage the affairs of a business when it is insolvent. It is their role to take control of a company’s affairs when it is in financial difficulty and try to find a longer term solution for it.
The administrators act as agents of the Company and without personal liability.
Who are the administrators?
The administrators are Sarah O’Toole, Helen Wheeler-Jones and Perry Edwards of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (the “Administrators”).
What has happened?
The Company operated two main divisions, the bread division which operated from a site in Northwich and the biscuit division which operated from a site in Winsford. The Company has experienced challenging trading conditions in recent months and has been pursuing opportunities to secure a long-term future through a sale of all or part of the business.
We are pleased to advise that a sale of all of the Company’s business and assets across both the biscuits and bread divisions were sold to Roberts Bakery 1887 Limited (formerly NGGL Limited) (“the Purchaser”) via a pre-packaged sale immediately following appointment. 433 employees have transferred to the Purchaser. 98 employees who were already under a notice period, following redundancy consultation, had their redundancy effected immediately following appointment.
Future supplies
Following the sale of the business and assets, existing suppliers to the Company should contact your usual Company contact, with regards to ongoing supplies.
I have goods on site, can I get them back?
If you believe you have a Retention of Title claim over goods or a claim over a leased asset that you have supplied to the Company, please contact your existing contact at the Company.
Can I claim as a creditor?
If the Company owes you money prior to the administration appointment date, you will be an unsecured creditor of the administration estate. You can submit an unsecured claim for the amount you are owed in to the administration estate.
We think there may be a dividend to Unsecured creditors of the Company, based on what we know currently, however it is too early to give an indication of timing or quantum.
If you have any further queries, please email:
uk_frankroberts_creditors@pwc.com
How to submit a claim
Our preferred method for creditors to submit claims and supporting documents is via the Turnkey (IPS) online portal, as this is the most efficient and cost effective way for us to deal with your claim and also allows you to better track its status, so we recommend the use of the online portal for claim submission.
In order to utilise this system, any creditors who have not received a letter with your unique login details within three weeks of the appointment, please contact us on uk_frankroberts_creditors@pwc.com
In preparation for submitting your claim please ensure that you have all relevant details such as your order confirmation or receipt, invoices or other documentation demonstrating the amount owed to you.
What further information on the Administration will I receive?
The Joint Administrators will publish a report to creditors stating how they will achieve the purpose of administration and provide their statement in accordance with Statement of Insolvency Practice 16 regarding the pre-packaged sale achieved via the case website to all known creditors and members of the Companies within 7 days of the appointment. This report is known as the Joint Administrators’ proposals and will outline steps taken by the Administrators to date and the strategy going forwards.
The Joint Administrators are also required to provide a written update on the administrations to all known creditors every six months. This report will be published to the case website within one month of every sixmonth anniversary or earlier if an Administrator vacates office or an extension to the administration is granted.
Who can I contact if I have any other queries?
If you have any further queries, please email:
uk_frankroberts_creditors@pwc.com
Perry Higgins, Sarah O’Toole and Helen Wheeler-Jones have been appointed as Joint Administrators of the Company to manage its affairs, business and property as its agents and without personal liability. The Joint Administrators are licensed in the United Kingdom to act as insolvency practitioners by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. The Joint Administrators are bound by the Insolvency Code of Ethics which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/insolvency-practitioner-code-of-ethics.
The Joint Administrators may act as controllers of personal data as defined by UK data protection law depending upon the specific processing activities undertaken. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP may act as a processor on the instructions of the Joint Administrators. Personal data will be kept secure and processed only for matters relating to the Joint Administrators appointment. Further details are available in the privacy statement on the PwC.co.uk website or by contacting the Joint Administrators.
