Keelham Farm Shop, Skipton: Staff officially made redundant as no buyer is found for business to be 'wound down'

The shop, cafe and restaurant closed in early January, but it was hoped that it could be sold to new investors as a going concern with fixtures and fittings intact.

However, staff were informed in a meeting on Thursday that they had officially been given redundancy notices and that the business would not re-open.

Jonny Marston, managing director of administrators Alvarez and Marsal’s Restructuring team in Leeds, said: “Following the appointment of joint administrators from Alvarez & Marsal to Keelham Farm Shop Ltd on January 5, the joint administrators have been exploring options for the sale of the business as a going concern. While interest was received, this was not capable of being delivered within the relevant time scales.

"Regrettably, the business is now being wound down. All employees have been made redundant, effective from January 18. The joint administrators are continuing to work with the employees to assist them with claiming their entitlements and obtaining other employment. Any parties interested in taking on any of the employees are invited to contact the joint administrators.

"The joint administrators are continuing to look to realise the assets of the company, including freehold property, stock, and plant machinery. Any interested parties should contact the joint administrators.”

Directors James and Josephine Wellock, Gerard Downes and James Worrall previously told the media that they had done ‘all they could’ to keep the farm shop going by diversifying the customer offer in the preceding 18 months. They blamed cost of living pressures, food inflation and higher interest rates for the failure to meet overheads.

The farm shop opened in 2015 as the second site under the Keelham brand, which was originally a store on the Robertshaw family’s farm in Thornton, near Bradford.

However, in 2019 siblings James and Victoria Robertshaw resigned as directors, and a year later the Skipton site was sold to Gerard Downes’ investment firm, Growth Partner. James still runs the Thornton shop, which is no longer associated with the Skipton business.

James Wellock and his wife Josephine joined Keelham in the summer of 2022, with the aim of using their experience in the sector to turn the shop around. James’s daughter Sally became the general manager, and innovations included opening a pizzeria called Knead and a wellbeing studio.