News - Midlands
Jobs saved after Simms and Wood MBO
One hundred jobs have been saved in Worcestershire after a multimillion-pound management buyout of a packaging and import business. Worcester legal firm Harrison Clark advised the management team on the purchase of Simms and Wood, a vegetable producer that supplies many of the UK's major supermarket chains. The deal has saved the jobs of the 100 staff employed at the 50-year-old Pershore business. Inger Woolhouse, Harrison Clark partner, said the management team, headed by farming operations director James Massingham, had been able to move quickly to secure funding and complete the transaction due to the support of its bank. "The whole agreement hinged on the purchase being carried out swiftly to retain the workforce, the client base and the goodwill that Simms and Woods had built up over its 50-year history," she said. "Because the bank and the company's creditors were supportive throughout the process, the deal progressed quickly and smoothly, which was vital to the successful buyout."