The loss-making company behind Pink Panther wafers has gone into administration, with the loss of about 100 jobs, after taking a hit from the fall in sterling since the Brexit vote.
Rivington Biscuits, which is based in Wigan, Lancashire, was already in the red but its financial position worsened after the June referendum, as the sharp fall in sterling pushed up the cost of ingredients used to make its biscuits. As a small firm it was unable to pass the price rises on to its supermarket customers and its losses escalated to several hundred thousand pounds a month.
This prompted Rivington’s Dutch owner Van Delft to appoint FRP Advisory as administrators on Tuesday night. Staff were told they had been made redundant on Wednesday.
The vast majority of the workforce, 99 people, have left while 24 people have been kept on to help fulfil existing contracts with supermarkets. However, their future is uncertain while FRP, which is also handling the liquidation of collapsed department store chain BHS, tries to find a buyer for the business.
Rivington is a key employer in Wigan, which voted 63.9% to leave the EU in June.
Half of those who have lost their jobs at Rivington have already put in their claims and hope to get their redundancy cheques by Christmas.
Apart from Pink Panthers, Rivington also makes own-brand biscuits for supermarkets including Lidl. Van Delft has invested £7m in its factory in Wigan since buying the business in 2009, but has been unable to turn it around.
Larger food suppliers have more clout. Unilever, the consumer goods giant whose brands range from Marmite to Persil, became embroiled in a public spat with Tesco last month after hiking the prices it charges supermarkets. The price of a basket of 20 Unilever products has gone up by an average of 5.7% since the Brexit vote, according to analysis by the Guardian and price comparison site MySupermarket.com published last month.
