A 200-YEAR-OLD forestry business, which at its peak managed 130 million young trees across Scotland, fell into administration after it owed more than £8m, it has emerged.
Moray-based Christies of Fochabers fell into administration last year due to “increased cashflow pressures,” placing 32 jobs at risk of being lost.
However, in February, Alba Trees, one of the UK's leading forest nurseries, bought Christies of Fochabers out of administration, saving all 32 jobs.
According to new documents by Graham Smith and Michelle Elliot, of FRP Advisory, who were appointed joint administrators in September, the amount of debt accrued by the firm and how much it was sold for has been revealed.
The report showed the company owed its bank £5.5m and that Alba Trees bought the firm for £2.6m, which included £1m for land and buildings, according to The Herald.
FRP Advisory said in its update that Virgin Money has also received a payment of £750,000 to date and HMRC is owed £409,000, with an expected dividend. Around £1.8m is owed to unsecured creditors.
Christies of Fochabers operated a nursery and tree growing business trading from Arradoul Farm, Buckie, Moray.
Administrators highlighted that “adverse weather conditions” had impacted the business's profitability as the colder weather had prevented the uplift of trees, impacting sales, and resulting in “increased cash flow and creditor pressure”.
“Significant investments had been made in recent years, including investments into cold store facilities, grading machines and purchasing steam sterilisation machines,” administrators said in the report.
“In addition, a large number of vehicles were acquired on hire purchase.”
They added: “Following the investments, the business became highly leveraged and sales were insufficient to cover trading and debt servicing costs, particularly due to seasonality of trading in the industry during the summer months, where there are minimal tree sales, resulting in cash flow pressures and requests to increase the overdraft.”
Christies of Fochabers was founded in 1956; however, it is a seventh-generation family business dating back to 1820 and also operated a garden centre, which was sold in June 2025 to Simpsons Garden Centres for £1.7m.
The firm had been a cornerstone of Scotland’s forestry sector for decades and at its peak managed 130 million young trees across five sites.
After Alba Trees bought the business, a spokesperson for the firm confirmed that all 32 employees at Christies of Fochabers had been transferred over as part of the sale.
A spokesperson for Alba Trees added: “Christies of Fochabers has a strong heritage in bare-root tree production, supplying restocking and new woodland creation projects across forestry and land management markets.
“The acquired assets materially enhance Alba Trees’ production footprint and capability, strengthening its position as one of the leading suppliers to the UK forestry sector.”
