Online retailer Farmison to recommence trading following buyout

Premium butcher and online meat retailer Farmison & Co has been acquired by a consortium of buyers after going into administration earlier this month.

The consortium is made up of former Asda chief executive Andy Clarke, and Chilli Marketing’s Gareth Whittle, Christian Barton and Kieron Barton.

Farmison was purchased by the consortium for an undisclosed sum, with Mr Clarke becoming the executive chairman.

See also: Premium meat retailer collapses with loss of 75 jobs

It has plans to restart the Yorkshire business under new leadership and begin to re-employ staff, who had previously been made redundant when the business went into administration.

Mr Clarke said: “We have an opportunity to scale this business and further develop both its direct-to-consumer and wholesale plans, building on the ethos and values of what Farmison stands for.

“In the short term, our goal is to bring financial stability to the business, and we’re committed to re-energising Farmison’s long-term vision so it can take advantage of the growth opportunities that are undoubtedly available to it.”

Interest from other parties

There had been significant interest in purchasing the business and assets of Farmison, and a number of serious offers had been put forward in recent weeks, according to the administrators.

Arvindar Jit Singh, joint administrator, said the proposal from the consortium provided the best opportunity of both re-establishing the business and maximising returns to creditors.

London-based butchers and online meat retailer Parson’s Nose was one of the other companies that had also shown an interest in taking over Farmison and had been in talks with the administrators.

The business had also reached out to former employees of Farmison to discuss potential job opportunities following the business’ collapse.

Parson’s Nose co-founder Tony Hindhaugh said: “It has always been a challenge to source good butchers, especially for higher-end retail operations.”