Troubled company put up for sale

A Barnsley packaging firm in financial trouble may be sold as a going concern, administrators have said.

Parkside Performance Films at Darton called in Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) to handle the business last month.

PwC has now advertised the business, and a spokeswoman said some interest had been shown in the plant, which employs 400 people.

She said the bids were now being looked at and the business was continuing to trade as normal.

Blue chip

Parkside makes printed film which is used on cigarette and snack packets.

In its sale advertisement, PwC says the firm has a "blue chip customer base".

The Darton site, formerly owned by BP, was bought by Parkside in 2002 and has been making heavy losses in recent months, mainly because of rising raw material costs.

Two other Parkside pants in Normanton in West Yorkshire and Zlotow in Poland are not affected.