Firkins job cuts hit 140 workers

A Black Country bakers has shut 21 shops with the loss of 140 jobs after going into administration.

Firkins Bakery Ltd, which is based in West Bromwich and has branches across the area, blamed rising supplier prices and the economic downturn.

Ian Bolderston, managing director, said he had bought 30 shops back off the administrator, saving 200 jobs.

He said the business, which was founded 138 years ago, would continue but would be renamed Firkins Foods Ltd.

'Very sorry'

Mr Bolderston, who bought the firm in 2006, said: "This is an awful position to find ourselves in. In the past year, the price of ingredients, electricity and gas have soared, meaning the overheads to the business have become crippling.

"We have battled to keep the business afloat and had agreed in principal to additional investment but when the financial wheels came off the banking system over the last two months the funding package could not be agreed.

"This meant that we have been searching for the funds required but have finally come to the conclusion that in its current format the business could not survive.

"We are very sorry to the staff and suppliers who will lose out because we could not make the business work."