The East Kilbride-based wholesale food supplier, which traded as Localist from its premises on Reynolds Avenue, had been in operation for 35 years and served as a vital link between numerous Scottish suppliers, producers and farmers and their major retail and foodservice customers.

The company had experienced prolonged cash flow difficulties, compounded by legacy bad debts arising from the failure of several customers, and further worsened by challenging conditions across the retail and hospitality sectors. Attempts by the directors to restructure debts exceeding £5 million ultimately proved unsuccessful, making the closure of the business unavoidable.

Thomas McKay, managing partner of BTG in Scotland and Northern Ireland, said: “The directors had made efforts to restructure the debt of the company in order to save the business and rescue the jobs, and the loss of the jobs was sadly inevitable when this was not successful.

“There are many small suppliers to the business that are owed money, and the loss of this route to market will also have a serious knock-on effect to these food producers as well. We are working to assess all claims and establish whether there will be any dividend paid to unsecured creditors, but it is not likely to be significant, given the level of secured debts in the business.

“Regrettably, the failure of the company has resulted in 71 redundancies and we are working closely with those affected to help them access the financial entitlements and support available to them, including assistance from Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) and the Redundancy Payments Service.

“Our priorities now include ensuring these employees receive the guidance and advice they need during this process, and that we maximise the return from the sale of assets to the benefit of creditors.”