250 jobs saved at Freshway
More than 250 jobs were saved today after Wolverhampton sandwich firm Freshway Foods went into administration.
The company has been bought by a West Yorkshire-based food group in a deal that secures the future of the Stafford Road-based business and its workforce.
Run by brothers Alan and Graham Wright the firm has won a string of awards in recent years and had been planning a major expansion before the recession hit the UK economy last year.
It is understood the Wright brothers had been attempting to cut costs as the economy declined, but were forced to call in administrators from BDO Stoy Hayward.
A deal was then struck to sell the Freshway Foods business to a new company, Freshway Chilled Foods, which is owned by the Parkam Food Group.
Parkam employs around 750 people at five other businesses including the 41,000 sq ft Trophy Foods factory in Wednesbury.
The sale of Freshway, including the transfer of its 255 staff, was negotiated by Jo Wright and Kim Rayment, business restructuring partners at BDO Stoy Hayward.
Mrs Wright said today: "The sale of Freshway Foods Limited to Freshway Chilled Foods Limited is great news as it protects more than 200 jobs as well as ensuring continuity of a very well regarded Wolverhampton business."
Freshway had been a family business for nearly 65 years. The original business, Wright's Shellfish, was founded by Alan and Graham's father Frank Wright in Southport in 1945.
No one from Parkam was available to comment today but, in a statement, the company's new owners said: "We look to the future with confidence for both of our trading positions."
