Administrators confident over Dawnfresh Farming sale

Administrators for the collapsed Dawnfresh Seafoods group say they are working to ensure the sale of its fish farming subsidiary, Dawnfresh Farming, “at the earliest opportunity”.

Callum Carmichael and Tom MacLennan were appointed as administrators for Dawnfresh Seafoods in February of this year. The group’s two processing sites, in Arbroath on Scotland’s east coast and Uddingston near Glasgow, have already been sold to Lossie Seafoods and Thistle Seafoods respectively.

The administrators’ progress report, filed at Companies House, shows that the group as a whole was running at a deficit of around £1.08m. It also reveals that the sale of the Uddingston plant fetched £6.8m.

The administrators expect that preferential creditors, including staff and HM Revenue & Customs, will be paid in full. Unsecured creditors are expected to receive a payout, but the amount cannot be determined yet.

The report says that the Dawnfresh Farming business, which operates seven fish farms and hatcheries across Northern Ireland and Scotland, continues to trade solvently. The company is currently being marketed for sale and, the administrators say, “offers are expected to be received in the coming months.”