A Scottish engineer that supplied key Covid-19 equipment during the pandemic has ceased trading.
The directors of Tayport-based Foodmek Ltd applied to court to appoint insolvency specialist Shona Campbell of Henderson Loggie as liquidator.
The liquidator said closure of the 52-year-old firm affects 32 jobs.
Foodmek was set up to supply processing equipment for the food and drink industry and has been supplying some of the biggest names in food manufacturing in the UK and abroad.
During the pandemic, the company continued operating profitably by fulfilling contracts for the pharmaceuticals industry. However, since then the company has experienced "a significant slowdown in its order pipeline".
Scot Kelly, Foodmek managing director, said: "We manufacture capital equipment and have been very busy quoting for new contracts, but unfortunately decisions have been deferred or projects cancelled due to economic uncertainty, caused by the war in the Ukraine and spiraling energy costs.
"When cash is tight, companies pull back on capital expenditure.
"We have explored every option to continue trading but despite excellent support from our bank and from Scottish Enterprise we do not have the cash to trade through this downturn.
"This is a sad day for us. Foodmek has been a good employer in the Tayport area for generations, bringing many apprentices through training and we will always be grateful to our staff."
Shona Campbell, insolvency partner at Henderson Loggie, said: "The directors have been trying very hard to overcome the challenges to continue the business, but regrettably it has not been possible.
"My aim now is to ensure the smooth closure of the business as quickly and efficiently as possible. Any parties interested in the business and assets should contact me.
"Employees have been informed and will receive all the necessary guidance and support to ensure they receive their full employment entitlements."
'Bittersweet' moment as owner of 30 years to sell hotel
A boutique hotel in Inverness with a “roaring” food and beverage business has been put up for sale by its owner of more than 30 years, who described it as a “bittersweet” moment.
Property agent Graham + Sibbald has been appointed to market The Heathmount Hotel in Inverness, which has eight bedrooms.
Spar wholesaler CJ Lang acquires convenience chain ScotFresh
CJ Lang & Son Ltd, the wholesaler for Spar in Scotland, has announced the acquisition of Glasgow-based convenience chain ScotFresh Group Ltd.
ScotFresh is an award-winning independent retail operation based in Glasgow and the Scottish central belt. The acquisition will see the nine ScotFresh branded stores and 130 staff move over to CJ Lang & Son.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here