Black Country bakers Firkins ceases trading - closing 23 stores and axing 104 jobs

The 144-year-old Black Country bakery firm, which has had a troubled history in recent years, is in liquidation following 'difficult trading periods on the high street'.

Shocked staff were phoned at home on Sunday and told not to come to work this week.

Acocks Green. 1123 Warwick Road, Acocks Green.

Bilston. 2 Market Way, Bilston.

Erdington. 138a High Street, Erdington

Great Bridge. 42 Market Place, Great Bridge

Hamstead. 32 Old Walsall Road, Birmingham

Kings Square. 101 Kings Square, West Bromwich

Merry Hill. 249 Trysull road, Wolverhampton

Netherton. 73 Halesowen Road, Netherton

Northfield. Northfield Shopping Centre, Birmingham

Oldbury. 7 Birmingham Street, Oldbury

Smethwick. 82 High Street, Smethwick

Solihull. 3 Station Road, Solihull

Walsall. Kiosk 4, Park Mall, Saddlers Centre, Walsall.

Wollaston, Dudley. 2-4 Fountain Arcade, High Street, Dudley

Wollaston, Stourbridge. 70 High Street, Stourbridge

Wollaston, Wollaston. 72 Bridgnorth Road, Wollaston

Blackheath. 3a High Street, Market Place, Blackheath

Darlaston. 57 Kings Street, Darlaston

New Street, Dudley. 17 New Street, Dudley

Hill Top. 117 Hill top, West Bromwich

Lye. 5 High Street, Lye

Wednesfield. 52 High Street, Wednesfield

Princes End. 101 High Street, Princes End, Tipton

BRI, a Northampton-based business recovery and insolvency specialist, is now dealing with the situation. Firkins has been in and out of administration at least three times since 2000.

A statement from BRI read: "Following difficult trading periods on the high street, Newbridge Bakery (Retail) Ltd & Newbridge Bakery (Birmingham Retail) Ltd have announced that their shops trading as Firkins and Wollaston Bakery have closed and will cease to trade.

"Unfortunately, despite efforts to improve shop profitability and because of the lack of new sales, the directors have taken steps to place the company into a creditors voluntary liquidation, which will result in the loss of 104 full and part-time jobs.

"Newbridge Bakery (Retail) Ltd & Newbridge Bakery (Birmingham Retail) Ltd were transferred into new ownership back in April 2014 and were a local supplier in Birmingham of bakery and confectionery goods. The closure will not affect other group companies including Oliver Adams Ltd based in Northampton."

One furious member of staff, who asked not to be named, said employees had been treated badly.

The worker said: "The way we have been treated is absolutely disgusting. Some of those who have lost their jobs have been working for the firm for 20 years and this is the thanks they get.

"They get a phone call at home saying it's all over after showing a long-term commitment to the firm. There were no staff meetings and no official warnings before we got that bombshell phone call out of the blue at home on a Sunday morning.

"Some of us had feared something was going on because shops were not getting the goods they had ordered and there had been cutbacks but this could have been handled a lot better."

Mary Firkin started Firkins Bakery in 1870 with her award-winning pork pies and a single shop in Carters Green, West Bromwich. It expanded across the Black Country, Birmingham and into parts of Staffordshire before its fortunes changed.

When the Firkin family stopped owning the business, Ian Bolderston and his wife Sarah took control in 2006, vowing to restore it to its former glory. But two years later, shops closed overnight and jobs were lost before Mr Bolderston bought the company again, this time from administration.

There was more misery in 2011. Firkins announced that it was closing its West Bromwich bakery with the loss of 40 jobs, but that the firm's remaining 33 shops would survive.

It was then revealed that former staff were owed £257,868 but there was only £17,800 left over from the firm's liquidation. Mr and Mrs Bolderston rescued the firm yet again in co-operation with another couple but the partnership collapsed and he was sacked in early 2013 for gross misconduct.

Shortly after Easter that year, lorry drivers arriving to make deliveries in the early hours found keys did not work and tills and counters had been removed at many of the shops. An employment tribunal last year heard claims that Mr Bolderston had masterminded the move to try to cripple the company while allegedly conspiring with a former area manager to set up a rival business.

The latest owners were totally unconnected with these events. Gillian Simmons, 71, was among stunned customers who found the shops had closed down this week. Outside the Wednesfield branch of Firkins, she said: "It is so disheartening to see yet another high street shop gone."

Christine Hunt, aged 50, from Broad Lane, Wednesfield, added: "I am really disappointed. I go in every day and enjoyed seeing the girls who work there. They are a lovely, friendly bunch and were a big part of my day. I used to go to the Willenhall Firkins but that closed three or four years ago, so I started coming here. Now where are we meant to go?"

Jeanette Mason, 61, of Wednesfield, said: "I collect cobs from there every day for the Vine Pub on Lichfield Road. They would have said something to the regulars if they knew this was coming." And Jean Clark, 69, from Heath Town, said: "I really do feel for the staff. I've been going in for years and this has come as a shock to everyone."