22 jobs saved as poultry packager is sold out of administration

Administration

Nigel Price - Partner | February 2nd 2015

Twenty-two jobs have been saved by the successful sale out of administration of a Cannock-based packager and supplier of fresh poultry.

The Birmingham office of business recovery specialists Begbies Traynor handled the sale of the business and assets of ANA Food Packaging Ltd, a business which had been trading since 2011.

The directors of the business – sold to ANA Poultry Services Ltd – will continue to play a role in running the business.

Nigel Price, partner at Begbies Traynor’s Birmingham office, managed the sale.

The sale out of administration has secured the jobs of the 22 staff based at the plant, whilst ensuring that existing customers continued to be served. The administrators were appointed on January 7.

Mr Price said: “The company had been facing tough trading conditions together with increased competition, and it was therefore apparent very quickly that administration and a subsequent sale was the best course of action. Doing this speedily and efficiently ensured that the business continued to trade, that existing customers continued to receive their service and that the jobs of the 22 staff were preserved. If we hadn’t acted quickly and secured the sale, it’s probable those jobs would have been lost.

“There were some obstacles to overcome but, working together with the directors, we were pleased to achieved a sale, saving the business and ensuring the staff retained their jobs, it has been satisfying to be able to achieve this.”

Martin Finn, director of ANA Poultry Services Ltd, said: “The company is now in the hands of a strong management team and has potential to supply a growing retail sector in halal meat and poultry. We are very pleased to have secured 22 jobs in the economic climate and feel confident that with the present workforce and good management team - and also the restructuring of the business - we will see strong growth in the future.”

About the author

Nigel Price

Partner

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Nigel Price joined Begbies Traynor in July 2009 to team up again with John Kelly, with whom he had worked at Ernst & Young from 1989 to 1997. Nigel had been a partner at Moore Stephens for 12 years, having set up their Birmingham corporate recovery office with another former Ernst & Young colleague in 1997.

He is a Fellow of the Insolvency Practitioners Association and is a past Member of its Council and he is also a Fellow of NARA, the Association of Property and Fixed Charge Receivers.

Nigel was one of the Joint Administrators of the British Athletic Federation, the former governing body of British Athletics which entered administration in October 1997, just after former Olympic athlete David Moorcroft took over as chief executive.

Nigel has dealt with distressed businesses in most industry sectors during more than 25 years in corporate rescue and restructuring, including engineering companies, property developers, pubs and restaurants, shops, professional practices, tool makers, foundries, automotive component manufacturers, football clubs, rugby clubs, charitable organisations, construction companies and an airline. He has also dealt with a number of interesting bankruptcies and individual voluntary arrangements.

He particularly enjoys working on property and construction companies, in which he has met some particularly colourful characters, and completed one of the first successful trading CVA’s of a construction business with John Kelly, when they were both at Ernst & Young.

He has recently completed the build-out of 3 residential developments, 1 of detached houses, 1 of apartments and a commercial unit, and the last a mixture of new build eco homes and the conversion of a Victorian waterworks into self contained apartments/townhouses.

He also recently dealt with the administration of Donington Ventures Leisure Limited, the leaseholder of Donington Park motor racing circuit, which almost brought a Formula One Grand Prix to the Midlands.

He is also currently involved in a number of CVA’s and solvent liquidations and restructurings, across different industries, including the turnaround of a business producing steel products for the construction industry, which was losing over £900k per year on a turnover of £6.5 million.