Administrators encouraged by interest in Five Star Fish – Fishupdate.com

Administrators encouraged by interest in Five Star Fish Published:  05 April, 2010

FINANCIAL experts are still trying to find a buyer for Five Star Fish of Grimsby, more than a month after the company was placed  into administration.

However, the administrators Deloitte say they have been encouraged by the high level of interest shown in the business. A spokeswoman said: “We have received a large number of inquiries and we are currently examining those which may take some more time.” She could give any indication when a decision would be taken but the fact that there have been no large scale lays offs among the 322-strong staff indicates that Five Star is managing to trade relatively normally under difficult conditions. Deloitte is continuing to work with the current management and staff until a  rescue comes along. Five Star’s main customers are in the food service sector where it has a strong base. Bids are thought to have come from seafood companies on the Humber, from overseas and from food businesses outside the conventional trade. Five Star was part of the British Seafood Group, which itself plunged into administration in February with a reported £150- million hole in the accounts. That collapse has badly hit a number of Grimsby fish businesses which were trading with the group at the time and are thought to be owed a substantial  amount of money. They are not expected to get much of it back. The biggest loser, however, is the private equity group 3i which had invested around £80-million in British Seafood and is likely to lose most or all of that.