Efforts to sell the assets and remaining stock of Silverstar Foods, which went into administration late last month, are nearing a conclusion

The main business of the £57 million turnover company was delivered foodservice wholesaler Turners Fine Foods – a member of Landmark Wholesale – which had been operating from three depots: the main site at Goudhurst, near Tonbridge, Kent; Christchurch, Dorset; and Earby, Lancs. These leasehold premises have all been closed.

Silverstar Foods also ran the Camden Quarter restaurant in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

Joint administrator, Will Wright, of KPMG, said that all 457 staff have been made redundant, although 27 were retained temporarily to help wind down the business.

Silverstar Foods, which was described as “an everyday and luxury foods wholesaler”, had around 3,000 customers, but had been undergoing a period of sustained losses. Wright said: “Despite the directors’ best efforts to effect a turnaround and sale of the business, the company was unable to continue to trade and the directors took the difficult decision to place it into administration.”

Last year, Silverstar merged with the former Coastline Produce, with premises in Bournmouth, Tonbridge and on the Isle of Wight.

According to the Landmark Wholesale members’ website, Turners Cheese, as it was then known, was established in 1995 but changed its emphasis to foodservice – and its name – after the Raphael brothers and business partner Richard Mercer took over the company. More than 500 styles of cheese, plus a wide variety of frozen foods, dry goods and disposable items, were among the products available.

The customer territory had been extended to include Birmingham, Bristol and Greater London, where the clientele included “many fine restaurants and catering outlets”.