Scottish food supplier collapse hits farmers as 71 jobs lost

A key route to market for Scottish farmers has collapsed after a food supplier went into liquidation, leaving 71 workers redundant after 35 years in business.

Enterprise Foods Limited, based in East Kilbride and trading as Localist, had helped producers get goods onto supermarket shelves — making its collapse a blow to the farming supply chain.

The company went bust after failing to refinance debts of more than £5 million, following a period of mounting financial pressure.

Problems were driven by bad debts after customer failures, alongside tough trading conditions squeezing margins across the retail and hospitality sectors.

George Lafferty of BTG was appointed provisional liquidator after a petition was lodged by the business.

The collapse removes a key buyer and distribution route for some producers, potentially leaving gaps in supply chains.

The collapse has resulted in 71 redundancies, with staff now being supported through the process.

Thomas McKay, managing partner of BTG in Scotland and Northern Ireland, said efforts had been made to rescue the business.

He said: “The directors had made efforts to restructure the debt of the company in order to save the business and rescue the jobs, and the loss of the jobs was sadly inevitable when this was not successful.”

He warned “many small suppliers to the business are owed money”, highlighting the wider impact on producers.

Mr McKay added the loss of this route to market will have a “serious knock-on effect” on food producers.

Work is ongoing to assess claims and determine whether any payments can be made to unsecured creditors.

However, any return is “not likely to be significant” given the level of secured debt.

“Regrettably, the failure of the company has resulted in 71 redundancies,” he said.

Support is being provided to affected staff, including access to financial entitlements and assistance from Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) and the Redundancy Payments Service.

“Our priorities now include ensuring these employees receive the guidance and advice they need,” Mr McKay said, alongside efforts to maximise returns from asset sales for creditors.

The failure comes amid wider strain across the food and farming sector, with businesses facing rising costs, tighter margins and ongoing market volatility.

The collapse adds to growing pressure across the UK food supply chain, underlining the growing pressure on suppliers and farmers across the UK.