Nearly 100 jobs have been saved at a Bradford ethnic food group after part of the business which went into administration was sold.

Administrators from The P&A Partnership have sold three food businesses – Pakeezah Superstores Ltd, Pakeezah Meats Ltd and Pakeezah (Girlington) Ltd – in a ‘pre-pack’ deal, saving 98 jobs.

Gareth Rusling and Chris White were appointed joint administrators on April 12 and sold the businesses immediately. Asset consultants Charterfields conducted negotiations on behalf of the administrators and advised on the sale of the assets.

Chris White confirmed that the businesses had been bought by a company set up by one of the previous directors.

He said: “As a result of the deal all jobs at the two food stores and Halal meat processors have been saved. The three businesses together had sales of more than £14 million last year but unfortunately got into financial difficulties because of significant cashflow problems. The administrators are writing to all creditors to inform them of the sale.”

The Pakeezah Group, which was not included within the administration, was established in 1967 by the late Mazhar Ul Haq and has become one of Bradford’s leading specialist ethnic retailers and wholesale Halal meat suppliers.

In 2010, the business invested £2 million into a new store at Ingleby Road, Girlington. Pakeezah had previously unveiled plans to convert the former Halfords store site in Leeds Road, Thornbury, into a 24,000 sq ft supermarket, creating 20 to 25 jobs.

The company’s accounts for the year to January 1, 2011, lodged at Companies House show a slump in pre-tax profit from £590,000 in 2010 to £9,929, even though sales rose by 12 per cent.

The company said the fall was due to one-off costs of launching the Pakeezah (Girlington) supermarket and cafe business and significant bad debts.