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Firm closing


finlo

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7 minutes ago, hissingsid said:

Ok did not realise the Arrow did the freight but what happens when it reaches the Island will it only be the bread that is ordered  by  the three big outlets, what about all the corner shops, garages etc that sell bread ?   How are they going to get supplied?   We will see what happens 🤫 .

There will be people out there that see this as a ideal time to increase their business or even to start up one. I'm sure it will be fine and if its new business good luck to them. 

Edited by Numbnuts
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1 hour ago, hissingsid said:

Ok did not realise the Arrow did the freight but what happens when it reaches the Island will it only be the bread that is ordered  by  the three big outlets, what about all the corner shops, garages etc that sell bread ?   How are they going to get supplied?   We will see what happens 🤫 .

Possibly Shoprite or Robinsons will supply?

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The bread from bakeries in England will have to be groupage unless the bakery is to send a full trailer to the island.  So who is going to do that?  Another problem is the bread will have to be produced night one and spend night two on the Irish Sea.  Bread is a product that has to be transported at ambient temperature, it will leave the bakery and in the winter loose temperature on route to Heysham. In the summer it will stand on the dock at Heysham cooking in a hot trailer then cool on route to the island, if the packet don’t sail then the bread will stand on the harbour for at least another 12 hours, the result will be poor quality bread.  Marks have a different method but at low volume. Their speciality breads are produced daytime and loaded to trailers that are dual temperature.  Delivered to Crewe and cross docked to trailers for the Isle of Man.  The supplier trailers carry sandwiches at plus 2 and one compartment with the fridge off.  For fresh bread the island needs RB.  I have never found RB bread to be that bad in comparison with bread in England, just the cost.  

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13 hours ago, Max Power said:

That would be a matter for a would be purchaser, we don't really know because the company statement didn't say whether they had tried to sell the business and been unable to find a purchaser?

We don't know if they were profitable or not, they are a private company who have built a huge market share. They have never sought help from government when they could, if needed. The reasons for closing only hint at potentially temporary rising energy and raw material costs, but the main reason for closure appears to be that it is the right time for the family to give it up. There are government grants and assistance for modernising machinery etc and a potential purchaser would benefit from this, and possibly other enticements to prevent closure, redundancies and the likelihood of knock on issues with Laxey Mills. 

At a lunch many years ago (Norman Wisdom was still alive and active cos he was there too) I sat with Jimmy Duncan who disclosed they were running at a small loss each year. I don’t think there were as many MR B’s then, and I’m sure their development will have helped the bottom line. But it has clearly been a tight run thing for a long time, and when you hit that point where you have to reinvest and start to project a decade ahead, it can result in a question mark as to why you might do so beyond benevolence.

even with something as important as this, the process of getting grant assistance for new kit will be painful, ponderous and testing. Of course it is public money, but this should just be a nod through, rather than the tedious bureaucracy that DFE creates. 

I’d be wanting the flour mill as well if going ‘all in’ on this, in order to redevelop it into somethIng more sustainable and attractive. Whatever happens, I reckon there will be a gap of at least a year in production and availability before anything is even remotely ready to go. This will be higher if the Duncans have unrealistic expectations of the value of their unit.

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57 minutes ago, Derek Flint said:

At a lunch many years ago (Norman Wisdom was still alive and active cos he was there too) I sat with Jimmy Duncan who disclosed they were running at a small loss each year. I don’t think there were as many MR B’s then, and I’m sure their development will have helped the bottom line. But it has clearly been a tight run thing for a long time, and when you hit that point where you have to reinvest and start to project a decade ahead, it can result in a question mark as to why you might do so beyond benevolence.

even with something as important as this, the process of getting grant assistance for new kit will be painful, ponderous and testing. Of course it is public money, but this should just be a nod through, rather than the tedious bureaucracy that DFE creates. 

I’d be wanting the flour mill as well if going ‘all in’ on this, in order to redevelop it into somethIng more sustainable and attractive. Whatever happens, I reckon there will be a gap of at least a year in production and availability before anything is even remotely ready to go. This will be higher if the Duncans have unrealistic expectations of the value of their unit.

It may well have a loan taken out against the site if it's been operating at a loss for some years.

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12 minutes ago, GD4ELI said:

It may well have a loan taken out against the site if it's been operating at a loss for some years.

There have been  charges registered back in 1980. Mems of satisfaction are filed, but I am not paying to download the docs filed to check against each charge. 

Note to IOMG make access to registry files free, like Companies House. 

Edited by Gladys
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1 hour ago, Banker said:

If there is it will only be to Duncan family 

Back to the OP - Lots of supermarkets including Tesco have in store bakeries and provide a variety of breads and baked goods and VERY good they are.

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18 minutes ago, quilp said:

Don't they buy in the dough from a wholesaler? 

AFAIK only for some speciality breads such as sour dough and some baguettes etc.  Otherwise it's done from scratch. They also sell run of the mill commercial breads as one might expect.

 

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