BREAKING: Oliver Adams goes bust but Leighton's Market Square bakery saved!

As Oliver Adams Limited goes bust, the LBO can reveal that Leighton's Market Square bakery has been spared from closure, with another company stepping in to save it.

Oliver Adams Limited, which has been operating for over one hundred years, went into liquidation on Thursday (March 30) and has now ceased operations.

However, the LBO contacted Oliver Adams, Market Square, today (March 31) and were informed that their shop, as well as five other Oliver Adams stores, have been taken over by a company called Bakery Organic.

A Market Square staff member told the LBO: “Oliver Adams went into liquidation yesterday and six shops have been take over by another bakery.

“We’ve all been made redundant by Oliver Adams but taken on by Bakery Organic. Only one person chose not to stay.

“We didn’t get a lot of notice and had to make our minds up quite quickly, but we are hopeful that this will bring the shop back to how it used to be and bring the customers back.

“There is going to be organic produce which is better for you, and hopefully some of the cakes and treats will be more modern.

“We don’t know if there will be any changes to our salary or what the shop will be called.”

Ian Cooke of St James-based insolvency experts BRI, which has been working to keep Oliver Adams afloat over the past 12 months, has confirmed Oliver Adams’ efforts “have failed.”

Mr Cooke met with more than 100 staff at the Gladstone Road, Northampton, headquarters at 10am this morning to talk the staff through the redundancy procedure alongside a member of the Jobcentre Plus. Some of those employees have not been paid for the past five weeks.

A Compulsory Voluntary Agreement (CVA) had been signed on June 1 last year, which aimed to help pay off the company’s £1.7 million worth of debts. But it has not been successful, meaning today signals the end of the company’s century-old links to Northampton.

Mr Cooke said: “We were trying to work with the directors and management to provide a softer landing for the company and its employees.

“This couldn’t be achieved.

“As supervisors of the CVA, we have certain obligations.

“When it fails, we have to petition the courts for a compulsory liquidation.

“That remained the intention when I left the office yesterday.

“This morning, the director has instructed another non-local firm of insolvency practitioners to take the required steps to put the company into voluntary liquidation.”

Those who attended the meeting told our sister paper the Northampton Chronicle that director of the company, Mark Jarvis, was not present at the meeting today.

He and his business partner Martin Deness took over the firm just over two years ago, taking over from Thomas Adams, a direct descendant of the company’s founder.

Mr Jarvis has yet to make an official statement.

There is set to be a separate meeting of creditors - the people who Oliver Adams Limited still owes money to - on April 13.

Staff, meanwhile, will have to claim redundancy from the Government using an online form.

The LBO has contacted Oliver Adams Limited and Bakery Organic for a comment.