Administrators appointed for Cookeze Limited

Administrators have been appointed at Cookeze Limited, the Lancashire‐based
event catering firm partly owned by acclaimed chef Nigel Smith.

Dean Watson of the Manchester office of Begbies Traynor and Neil Dingley of
Moore in Stoke were appointed Joint Administrators of Cookeze Limited on
24th March, after the company ceased trading. 72 employees have been made
redundant.

The administrators are seeking interested parties who may be attracted by
recent major investment in state‐of‐the‐art commercial kitchen space at 48,000
sg ft headquarters in Chorley.

The firm, which traded as Patisserie by Nigel Smith, specialised in ‘artisan
patisserie’ and was founded in 2010 by Nigel Smith, a chef who has appeared on
several cookery TV shows. Flagship products included cakes, desserts, gateaux’s
and scones.

Clients of the company included Manchester United, Liverpool FC, Jockey Club
Brasserie Blanc and Malmaison Hotels Turnover last year was £1.5m.

Dean Watson, partner at Begbies Traynor, said:

“COVID‐19 has seen the sports‐related events where the company excelled
cancelled. The immediate cashflow challenge this presented as well as recent
significant investment in a high specification modern office complex and
commercial kitchen equipment has taken its toll.

“We are in the process of updating staff and providing information on how to
claim for their entitlements and advising creditors of the position. In the
meantime, we are looking for interested parties who may be strongly attracted
by the fact it was, until very recently, a successful business with blue chip clients,
talented staff and outstanding facilities.

“Sadly, this crisis will continue to severely impact many other similar eventsbased
businesses who are not geared up to weather the storm over the summer
of 2020.”