Companies That You Expect to Disappear Soon

[westv]

Stonehouse is a small family-owned brewery - combined with Henstones' distillery and cider makers - situated alongside the Cambrian Heritage Railway at Weston, near Oswestry, in Shropshire. As well as their on-site tap room and restaurant, they own a handful of pubs....including the Marlborough Arms in Chester.

And it's also a pub chain with 90 outlets in the UK.

Fresh Pizza & Traditional Carveries | Stonehouse Restaurants

Freshly baked pizza, carvery & classic pub dishes. Meals at honest & fair prices, prepared the way you want with over 90 UK restaurants, easy, online booking.

www.stonehouserestaurants.co.uk

 

[brad465]

The Body Shop going into administration:

Body Shop UK jobs and stores at risk in race to save firm

The retailer's shops will remain open as usual while the administrators try to save the UK firm.

www.bbc.co.uk

The Body Shop's UK business has entered administration, potentially putting up to 2,000 jobs at risk.
The retailer's shops will remain open as usual while the administrators try to save the UK firm.
FRP which has been appointed as an administrator said it would now consider all options to find a way forward for the business.
The Body Shop was started by the late Dame Anita Roddick in 1976 from a single shop in Brighton.
It grew into a global brand, pioneering ethical trading and a stance against testing beauty products on animals.
FRP said creating "a more nimble and financially stable UK business" was an important step in becoming a modern beauty brand.
The administrators are expected to try to substantially cut costs, including on property and rents which could lead to job cuts.
It is highly unlikely that The Body Shop name will completely disappear from Britain's High Streets after nearly 50 years.

 

[D6130]

Times are hard - very hard - in the brewing and hospitality industries. One of the country's longest-established family brewers - Adnams of Southwold - are urgently seeking ways to refinance their debts. (Sources: The Guardian, Drinks Business and various CAMRA* platforms....sorry, I can't do a link).

Meanwhile, nearer to home (for me), Elland Brewery in Calderdale have called a creditors' meeting for this Friday, 16th February, to decide whether or not to go into voluntary liquidation. Although only established - under various names - for slightly less than 30 years, they have a established an enviable reputation for producing high quality cask-conditioned ales....and their excellent 1872 Porter is currently CAMRA's Champion Beer of Britain - for the third time. (Sources: Drinks Business, Halifax Courier and various CAMRA platforms). Let's hope that a buyer can be found who can at least continue production of the 1872 Porter.

Smaller brewers have been hit over the past few years with the quadrupel whammy of Covid, soaring costs of raw materiels, soaring energy costs and high rates of duty....not to mention market saturation caused by an ever increasing number of new start-ups chasing an ever-decreasing market caused by the accelerating rate of pub closures.

Watch this space for news of more brewery insolvencies.

(*CAMRA - Campaign for Real Ale)

 

[Busaholic]

The Body Shop going into administration:

Body Shop UK jobs and stores at risk in race to save firm

The retailer's shops will remain open as usual while the administrators try to save the UK firm.

www.bbc.co.uk

When it comes to such things the 'ethical traders' are just as cutthroat with both staff and their landlords Not that private equity and ethical trading should ever be mentioned in the same breath.

 

[Gloster]

Smaller brewers have been hit over the past few years with the quadrupel whammy of Covid, soaring costs of raw materiels, soaring energy costs and high rates of duty....not to mention market saturation caused by an ever increasing number of new start-ups chasing an ever-decreasing market caused by the accelerating rate of pub closures.

And, whisper it quietly, the difficulties that those breweries that used to earn a goodly proportion of their turnover by exporting to Europe are finding when they try to…export to Europe. I wonder why.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Local BBC news reporting that the Liverpool-based 'Yodel' delivery firm has been sold on today. The alternative would likely to have been administration.

Yodel saved from collapse by fast-growing rival

Yodel has been saved from falling into administration in a last-minute rescue deal by a consortium.

www.bbc.com

Extract...

Parcel delivery firm Yodel has been saved from collapse in a last-minute rescue deal led by one of its rivals.

The business has been taken on by YDLGP, a newly-formed company backed by investment bank Solano Partners and the team behind logistics firm Shift.

Yodel makes about 190 million deliveries a year and it is thought the deal will safeguard thousands of jobs.

P.S. Not sure whether the highly regarded 'Yodel' business name will now continue under its new ownership.

 

[trebor79]

Times are hard - very hard - in the brewing and hospitality industries. One of the country's longest-established family brewers - Adnams of Southwold - are urgently seeking ways to refinance their debts. (Sources: The Guardian, Drinks Business and various CAMRA* platforms....sorry, I can't do a link).

Yikes! Nice beer that is, and Southwold wouldn't be the same without a working brewery. Love the smells wafting out of the fermentation room when walking twixt beach and town.

They have made some odd decisions, such as removing the bottling plant (so they could extend the fermentation area). Instead of moving it to somewhere nearby (like their distribution centre at Reydon), it all goes to Burton to be contract bottled and canned there. Haulage on that must be costing about 3p per 500ml. I'd be surprised if that's cheaper long term than relocating the bottling plant. But I guess if they're saddled with debt they perhaps didn't have the capital to do that.

 

[brad465]

Cycle retailers Wiggle and Chain Reaction appear to be in trouble, they've been clearing stock and reported mass redundancies:

https://www.bikeradar.com/news/wiggle-chain-reaction-sold

Mass redundances have taken place at online retail giants Wiggle and Chain Reaction, with “almost everyone... within the organization” losing their jobs, according to industry sources.

LinkedIn posts from a number of employees within the group have confirmed the news, with one stating: "Unfortunately, my time is up, along with everyone else within the organisation". Another has said "the administrators have closed the shutters".

An industry source from outside of Wiggle and Chain Reaction has told BikeRadar that the redundancies are believed to coincide with a sale of the business, but this has not been confirmed.

Beyond today's news, the ultimate future of Wiggle, Chain Reaction and the house brands within the group – including bike brands Vitus and Nukeproof – remains unknown.

Wiggle and Chain Reaction entered administration in October and were then put up for sale.

The latest redundancies follow an initial round of 105 redundancies late last year, with job losses at Wiggle, Chain Reaction and distributor Hotlines.

Funnily enough my work manager predicted this a few months ago: we have a Local Recognition award scheme for certain work achievements, where I got selected for one, which comes in the form of a gift card of the recipient's choosing. I tried to select Wiggle, being a road cyclist, but it was being rejected. On telling my manager this, who is also a cyclist, he said it was a sign they're potentially going under (in the end I chose Decathlon for the gift card).

 

[KashmireHawker]

Cycle retailers Wiggle and Chain Reaction appear to be in trouble, they've been clearing stock and reported mass redundancies:

https://www.bikeradar.com/news/wiggle-chain-reaction-sold

Funnily enough my work manager predicted this a few months ago: we have a Local Recognition award scheme for certain work achievements, where I got selected for one, which comes in the form of a gift card of the recipient's choosing. I tried to select Wiggle, being a road cyclist, but it was being rejected. On telling my manager this, who is also a cyclist, he said it was a sign they're potentially going under (in the end I chose Decathlon for the gift card).

Rumour has it that Frasers have brought the IP and Brand Assets, and that a sale of the business as a going concern failed, sparking the mass redundancies.

Means there massive warehouse and world distribution centre here in Wolverhampton will be emptied. A big blow for many across the city.

The exact position of the sale/purchase of Chain Reaction Cycles and Wiggle is still lost in the dust of their slow collapse over the past few months. The current best guess / least denied rumor is that the bike industry’s favorite pantomime villain – Mike Ashley of Sports Direct/Evans Cycles fame – has bought the IP to the house brands. In this case, as there are unlikely to be any patents involved, this Intellectual property is mainly the right to use the trademarks and names for the CRCWiggle house brands. These include Nukeproof, Vitus, Ragley, DHB and Brand-X. Product lines that have grown to become very well-regarded and well-known players in the value market. Nukeproof has also been a top-level racing brand with top World Cup DH results right up to the end of last season. What Ashley will do with these brands (if it is him who’s bought them) is totally unknown though.

Chain Reaction has finally run out of Wiggle room, but will we learn any lessons from the death of the 'world's biggest bike shop'?

What impact will the collapse of Wiggle and Chain Reaction really have? In this week's Bespoken Word column, Guy Kesteven sifts through the wreckage of cycling’s biggest retailer collapse disaster

sports.yahoo.com

 

[Typhoon]

Seems like the Bernard Matthews business has seen its last Christmas:

Bernard Matthews' turkey factory is set to close down leaving 600 jobs at stake after the firm failed to find a buyer for the facility.

The food company revealed in January that the facility in Great Witchingham, Norfolk, is 'no longer commercially viable despite investment and efforts to secure more business'.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/oth...1&cvid=73c8e0b0f4d54dbc9069290bd7bd15ed&ei=32

 

[Gloster]

Seems like the Bernard Matthews business has seen its last Christmas:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/oth...1&cvid=73c8e0b0f4d54dbc9069290bd7bd15ed&ei=32

Not so bootiful.

 

[dgl]

Seems like the business is a bit of a turkey!

 

[52290]

Seems like the business is a bit of a turkey!

It seems the Turkeys voted against Christmas last year.

 

[PG]

Seems like the business is a bit of a turkey!

You'd have thought somebody would have gobbled them up!

 

[Trackman]

Seems like the Bernard Matthews business has seen its last Christmas:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/oth...1&cvid=73c8e0b0f4d54dbc9069290bd7bd15ed&ei=32

Is it just the one site or the whole business?

 

[RuddA]

Is it just the one site or the whole business?

I believe it is just the single site at Great Witchingham, just North of Norwich. This is where Bernard Matthews filmed the TV adverts after buying the hall in the 1950s. The staff are being given the opportunity to transfer to a different site.

 

[Trackman]

I believe it is just the single site at Great Witchingham, just North of Norwich. This is where Bernard Matthews filmed the TV adverts after buying the hall in the 1950s. The staff are being given the opportunity to transfer to a different site.

Thanks, how many sites do they have? Google doesn't through up anything.

 

[Darandio]

Thanks, how many sites do they have? Google doesn't through up anything.

The article linked above refers to the offer of alternative jobs at five processing locations.

 

[RuddA]

Bernard Matthews is owned by the same person that owns the 2 Sisters Food Group.
Not sure if it is just the processing site which is closing or also the Bernard Matthews head office at Great Witchingham.

 

[brad465]

Seems like the Bernard Matthews business has seen its last Christmas:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/oth...1&cvid=73c8e0b0f4d54dbc9069290bd7bd15ed&ei=32

It's also not good for the baseball industry in the UK.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Doesn't sound like the brand will be disappearing anytime soon though.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

It's also not good for the baseball industry in the UK.

You might just need to explain/clarify that comment!

 

[brad465]

You might just need to explain/clarify that comment!

Many years ago there was a story about staff at Bernard Matthews playing baseball, using Turkeys instead of a ball.

 

[E27007]

And an even bigger shift away from drinking alcohol in licensed premises

Correct, Supermarket beer, 3 bottles of nice beer from Aldi or Lidl for £4.50, the price of a pint in many Pubs

 

[52290]

Correct, Supermarket beer, 3 bottles of nice beer from Aldi or Lidl for £4.50, the price of a pint in many Pubs

Real ale can only be drunk in pubs and clubs though. Drinking your 3 bottles of Aldi beer at home implies you were drinking alone with only yourself to talk to.

 

[jon0844]

Real ale can only be drunk in pubs and clubs though. Drinking your 3 bottles of Aldi beer at home implies you were drinking alone with only yourself to talk to.

Not sure if you've noticed the trend over, say, the last 10-15 years, of people going to other people's homes to drink? Rather than going out and get fleeced for £7-8 a pint. Likewise, 'pre-loading' refers to people meeting up and having a few drinks before going out, again to save money.

 

[Mike395]

Real ale can only be drunk in pubs and clubs though. Drinking your 3 bottles of Aldi beer at home implies you were drinking alone with only yourself to talk to.

I feel this is somewhat of an old fashioned view nowadays - both in terms of the trend @jon0844 refers to and also the stereotype of having some real ale at home after a busy day at work (even if you're the only one there) = bad (so long as it's not at a problematic level obviously!).

 

[birchesgreen]

Real ale can only be drunk in pubs and clubs though. Drinking your 3 bottles of Aldi beer at home implies you were drinking alone with only yourself to talk to.

Sounds great to me. I have tinnitus so pubs (and other loud places) are a bore to me as i can't hear owt.

 

[jon0844]

I feel this is somewhat of an old fashioned view nowadays - both in terms of the trend @jon0844 refers to and also the stereotype of having some real ale at home after a busy day at work (even if you're the only one there) = bad (so long as it's not at a problematic level obviously!).

I don't drink at home much, hence a drinks cabinet containing bottles of alcohol that have survived a house move - and we last moved in 2003!, but it is definitely nice to enjoy some meals with a nice bottle of ale, or even a chilled lager.

 

[gswindale]

Real ale can only be drunk in pubs and clubs though. Drinking your 3 bottles of Aldi beer at home implies you were drinking alone with only yourself to talk to.

Why?

3 bottles from Aldi gives me, my Father in law and Brother in Law a bottle each. Have a drink whilst having a chat in the evening whilst the little one is playing with his lego or something.

I was really shocked at the weekend when it cost me £15 for 2 pints and a glass of Wine at our local. Should have been able to get 6 pints for that price!