Jobs lost as bakery shuts
Lisa Hodge • Published 12 Feb 2011 14:00
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A PORT Glasgow bakery has gone bust after 56 years in business - leaving 16 people without jobs.
Clydeside Bakery shut down yesterday after being hit by financial troubles.
Accountancy firm KPMG announced the company had gone into provisional liquidation on Friday 4 February and made all staff redundant with immediate effect.
Yesterday, the wholesalers' doors, in Kingston Business Park, were closed for the final time and the equipment is now set to be sold at auction. General manager Alison Kerr - who is the granddaughter of founding owner John McLean - has worked at the company for more than 26 years.
She says she has been left devastated by the closure and loss of jobs, adding: "This business means a lot to a lot of people. Although my family sold it a few years ago, it's still very much a big part of our lives.
"It's very sad and upsetting to think it's all over. Some of the staff have been here for over 30 years, so it's been a very emotional time.
"I just hope everyone manages to find new jobs. It's the end of an era."
The business - which was formerly called East End Bakery - was founded in 1955 by the McLean family of Greenock.
They owned the firm for almost 50 years until Alison's parents, Anne and Ian McLean, sold it in 2003 to businessman Stephen Hutcheon.
In 2009, the business underwent a name change and was unveiled as Clydeside Bakery, but sadly the firm suffered a downturn in fortunes after selling off five of its shops to James Allen Bakery.
Alison said: "In 2009, the name changed when five of the shops were sold and that left us being just a wholesalers, but we just couldn't sustain business, which has led to this situation. It's all very sad."
A spokesman for KPMG said: "Blair Nimmo of KPMG Restructuring was appointed Provisional Liquidator of Clydeside Bakery, Port Glasgow Limited, on the 4 February 2011 at the request of the company's directors.
"Based in Port Glasgow, the retail bakery employed 16 people. Regrettably, the workforce has been made redundant with immediate effect."
This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 12 Feb 11
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