Watton Produce is to close down its operations in Norfolk and embark on a £25 million fire sale.
The carrot supplier is to sell off 18 lines from its processing and packaging facility at a live and online auction on 20 July.
Watton Produce has more than 50 years experience focused on the supply of carrots and parsnips for the retail, foodservice and wholesale markets.
Last week, Cambridgeshire business Alan Bartlett & Sons bought former Watton subsidiary Moray Coast Produce.
Much of the equipment to be sold from the Norfolk site was only installed in 2010 and some has recently been fully serviced.
In its last accounts submission to Companies House, auditors M+A Partners said that the company had net current liabilities of £2.7m and was “dependent upon the bankers and other related companies for ongoing financial support” and said “the matters explained… indicate the existence of an uncertainty which may cast doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern”.
The company returned a pre-tax loss of £791,296 for the year to 4 April 2010, down from a profit of £152,798 the previous year. Its turnover was £20.8m in 2010, up on £18.1m in 2009.
The “unmissable auction” is run by Clarke Fussells and includes multi-head weighers, vibratory feeding lines, a bunch carrot washing line and a triple grading system.
The company said the site has to be cleared by 5 August and the auctioneers said “failure to collect goods by the clearance date will result in charges being applied for removal and storage”.
Watton declined to comment.
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