An award-winning Devon butcher’s business which closed in late 2021 has left unpaid debts of more than £300,000 - with almost half owed to a London-based fintech investment company.
Gribbles Butchers Ltd had shops in Plympton and Ivybridge, as well as a farm base in Buckfastleigh, but
At the time, management said the small team of eight people was “physically and mentally beaten” by the Covid pandemic and its restrictions so had decided to “take some time out” before “our health is seriously affected”.
READ MORE: {}
South West insolvency stories
The business then closed and, after a meeting of creditors, went into voluntary liquidation on December 7, appointing Henry Shinners and Kevin Ley, of London’s Smith and Williamson LLP, as joint liquidators.
Documents newly filed at Companies House now reveal Gribbles had debts of more than £400,000 with some creditors unlikely to receive a penny.
The firm’s assets amounted to £113,746, which was available to pay off preferential creditors including the taxman, with HMRC owed £10,023, and £17,365 in wages and holiday pay for staff. But when all preferential creditors are paid it leaves just £20,271 available to pay unsecured creditors.
The total shortfall for creditors amounts to £305,371, a summary of liabilities reveals, although a list of 33 creditors totals claims of £320,201.
Among the list of creditors is NatWest, which is claiming £84,517 for a fixed charge over property, and Funding Circle Ltd - owed £146,182.
Most Read
Funding Circle is an online peer-to-peer lending marketplace, which allows the public and organisations to lend money directly to small businesses, and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. In 2020 it was accredited by the Government to provide business loans of up to £350,000 under the Recovery Loans Scheme. Funding Circle reported a pre-tax profit of £35m in the first half of 2021.
Another bank, business lender Aldermore, is claiming £7,000, and property business Devonshire Ltd is owed £21,600. Smaller creditors include Exeter’s Weddel Swift Distribution, which is claiming £5,457; Cornwall’s M&W Meats Ltd, claiming £6,586; another Cornish meaty business, Penryn’s RJ Trevarthen, owed £7,357; and DB Foods Ltd, in Dorset, is claiming £6,860.
How to contact William Telford and Business Live
Business Live's South West Business Reporter is William Telford. William has more than a decade's experience reporting on the business scene in Plymouth and the South West. He is based in Plymouth but covers the entire region.
To contact William: Email: william.telford@reachplc.com - Phone: 01752 293116 - Mob: 07584 594052 - Twitter: - LinkedIn: - Facebook:
Stay in touch: BusinessLive newsletters have been re-designed to make them even better. We send morning bulletins straight to your inbox on the latest news, views and opinion in the South West. Get our breaking news alerts and weekly sector reviews too. Sign up now - it's free and it only takes a minute. To sign up for Business Live's daily newsletters click .
And visit the Business Live South West LinkedIn page
Over the years Gribble's shops won a host of Taste of the West awards, being named Best South West Butcher for five years running between 2012 and 2016.But in November 2021 customers said they received emails cancelling their Christmas hamper orders and having their money refunded.
Mark Gribble, managing director of the firm, then said that after nearly three decades of trading the decision had been taken to close the business and saying it was because “we cannot see how we can possibly cope with Christmas 2021 after the past 19 months of our workload through lockdowns”.
More South West retail news