SEVERAL parties have expressed interest in Keelham Farm Shop, according to administrators.

The shop - which was latterly known as Keelham Food Hall and is situated off the A65/A59 Gargrave roundabout, near Skipton - shut suddenly at the end of the day on Thursday, December 28.

Staff were told the news that morning, according to sources.

An unsigned notice posted on the food hall's Facebook page cited financial reasons for the closure and hoped a new buyer could be found, while later that day a notice was placed on the doors of the premises stating it was “temporarily closed until further notice”. 

It has now been announced that administrators have been appointed for Keelham Farm Shop Limited today.

Jonny Marston and Lyn Vardy of leading professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal Europe LLP will act jointly to explore options for the business and the former already has some potentially positive news.

Mr Marston said: “The business has experienced financial difficulty in recent months as a result of cost inflation, which ultimately led to cashflow problems and the business ceasing to trade last week.

"The Joint Administrators’ priority is to explore options to sell the business as a going concern and have already been made aware of interest from several parties.

"Interested parties are invited to register their interest directly.”

Keelham Farm Shop is an award-winning food hall and restaurant, offering customers the freshest local produce and featuring an on-site butcher and baker.

The brand has both an online and in-store product offering, as well as serving meals to customers from its Skipton site.

It employs around 100 people.

Companies House names 'active' directors as: Gerard Downes, Alistair Wellock, Josephine Wellock and James Worrall.

A statement from the Wellock family earlier this week said: "It is with real regret that we announce that Keelham Food Hall has taken the difficult step to close.

"Over the last 18 months we have done all we can to try and turn around the business and keep it going, by creating a differentiated local food offering with adjacent services and experiences for customers, rebranding our store, as well as taking action to simplify our supply chain. 

"Despite these efforts, a combination of factors including cost of living pressures, food inflation and higher interest rates means we simply have not been able to attract enough regular shoppers to cover the ever-increasing fixed overheads of the store and create a viable business moving forward.

"There is active effort being made for the business to be taken over to secure jobs as soon as possible.

"We’d like to thank our customers, partners and suppliers and in particular all of our staff for their hard work over the years."

The business is currently not trading, whilst the administrators undertake a sale process.

Any interested parties should contact a member of the Joint Administrators’ team on: 0113 3606700 or INS_KEEFSL@alvarezandmarsal.com