Golden Wonder, an iconic UK brand of potato crisps, which was at its peak in the 1960s and 1970s, called in administrators yesterday after attempts to sell the business as a going concernfailed.
The group made a loss of £10.8 million (€15.8 million) on sales of £87.8 million in 2004 and incurred "significant losses" in 2005, according to Kroll, appointed to handle the administration.
The administrators said that the crisps market - dominated by Walkers, which is owned by PepsiCo - was highly competitive and Golden Wonder had lost market share, which had put pressure on its pricing. It had closed one of its three sites in 2004, but even then struggled to fill its remaining factories.
Last autumn, the group embarked on a strategic review and looked for buyers, but according to Grant Thornton, its auditors, the scale of the losses meant it was "prohibitive for anyone to pay a going concern price".
People in the food industry said that the business had heavy debts and a sizeable pension deficit. One said that companies such as PepsiCo and KP, the snack business owned by United Biscuits, had not been interested in buying it, and that Golden Wonder was "going into meltdown".
The administrators said that the group's own label production at its site in Corby, Northamptonshire, was being transferred to its Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, site although production of branded crisps would continue at Corby.
Further restructuring would be necessary, they said. Job losses among the 850 staff are expected.
The group was founded in 1947 by William Alexander, a Scottish baker, who used the Golden Wonder variety of potato to make the crisps. - (Financial Times service)
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