Farming News - Russell Hume in administration

Russell Hume in administration

A meat supplier being investigated by the Food Standards Agency has fallen into administration with the loss of almost 270 jobs.

KPMG has been appointed as administrators to Derby-based Russell Hume Limited.

Its meat products were recalled last month and chains including Wetherspoon took them off their menus.

The FSA said its investigation concerned Russell Hume's failure to comply with food hygiene regulations.

The company supplied meat to a range of hotels, restaurants and pubs across the UK and had six production sites in Liverpool, Birmingham, London, Boroughbridge, Exeter and Fife.

Chris Pole, partner at KPMG and joint administrator, said: "The recent product recall and halt in operations has caused significant customer attrition and trading difficulties, which in turn has led the directors to take the decision to place the company into administration."

With little prospect of production restarting , he said a total of 266 people had been made redundant.

"Our priority over the coming days will be to work with all affected employees to provide the assistance they need in claiming monies owed from the Redundancy Payments Office.

"We will also be seeking buyers for the business and its assets. Any interested parties are advised to contact us as soon as possible."