Historic leather goods firm Pittards has appointed administrators from Ernst & Young as joint administrators.
Bosses at the historic firm, which employs around 150 people in the 海角视频 and 900 in Ethiopia, said it has been struggling with the wider economic downturn in recent months, amid fluctuating exchange rates from the end of last year, rising energy prices, and a post-pandemic fall in demand for its products.
The London-listed company raised doubts about its future in July after failing to raise the £1m it said was needed to continue trading. And on August 8 made a further announcement detailing its intent to appoint administrators.
At the end of July the Pittards board updated investors on the London Stock Exchange that it was considering “all its strategic options” including a sale of the business and its assets.
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On August 16 the tannery told BusinessLive it was looking to find a buyer and that the company was continuing to trade, while no redundancies had been made.
Bosses at the Somerset firm have today (September 5) confirmed the appointment of Lucy Winterborne and Daniel Hurd of Ernst & Young as joint administrators.
Ms Winterborne and Mr Hurd are said to be at an advanced stage of negotiations to sell the company's business and assets, including its Ethiopian subsidiaries.
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The transaction is expected to formally close no later than September 6. If the transaction cannot be concluded the the pair will assess available options to realise value for the company's creditors
In a statement, Pittards said: "The joint administrators will be contacting shareholders in due course with further information on the Administration of the Company and the sale of its business and assets."
Last month union officials called on the government to act, while accusing Westminster of adding adding to the wider uncertainty facing firms like Pittards, including during last September’s mini-Budget under former Prime Minister Liz Truss’ administration, which prompted market turmoil.
Using the firm as an example, Gavin Miller, the Community Union's National Officer for light industries, said: "It's clear that recent developments at Pittards have not emerged in a vacuum, but rather are symptomatic of the difficult outlook facing manufacturers across the country. The situation has not been helped by the 海角视频 Government's ambivalence towards our manufacturing sector, as demonstrated by the lack of any feasible support for businesses in response to inflation rises and industrial energy bills."
The TUC’s regional secretary in the South West, Ines Lage, added: “The current Government must do more to protect good local jobs and support businesses like Pittards in the face of ongoing economic pressures. Inflation is still too high and it is deeply affecting local communities, businesses and workers.
“This situation is a painful example of what happens when ministers make disastrous and irresponsible fiscal decisions, such as last year’s budget, which collapsed the Pound Sterling on international markets."
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