The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
North East; Tees Valley and Durham; Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees
Location of affected unit(s)
Hartlepool
Sector
Manufacturing Manufacture Of Food And Beverage Manufacture Of Food Products 10 - Manufacture of food products
200 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
1 February 2007
Employment effect (start)
1 February 2007
Foreseen end date
Description
200 workers at a frozen cake factory have lost their jobs after the firm went into administration.
Staff at Bonne Bouche Limited, on the Oaksway Industrial Estate in Hartlepool, were sent home on Thursday. The company saved the factory two years ago when the previous owner, Hibernia, went into receivership. But now it has been wound-up due to shortage of orders. Union chiefs said workers have been told they will not get outstanding wages. Mark Firmin, of Administrator KPMG Restructuring, said the firm was hopeful of finding a buyer: 'A shortage of working capital means Bonne Bouche is unable to continue trading.'
'This business has encountered difficulties in the past and struggled to make a profit due to tough trading conditions in a competitive environment.'
Alan Milne of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, said: 'The workers are furious and disappointed they will not be getting a pay cheque.'
Hartlepool MP Iain Wright said the news was a devastating blow.
He said: 'The loss of 300 jobs in any community is devastating - but that is especially true in Hartlepool where people struggle at times.'
Sources
2 February 2007: BBC News
Citation
Eurofound (2007), Bonne Bouche Limited, Closure in United Kingdom, factsheet number 64899, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/64899.
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