Baked potato chain Spudulike, which has an outlet in Dundee, collapsed today with the loss of almost 300 jobs.
The fast food outlet had one of its 37 locations on the upper level of Dundee’s Overgate Shopping Centre.
The Dundee shop didn’t open today as joint administrators Neil Bennett and Alex Cadwallader from Leonard Curtis said a prospective buyer for the business had withdrawn and the chain had now closed.
Spudulike, which has 298 staff, had earlier pursued a company voluntary agreement (CVA), which was rejected by creditors.
Mr Bennett said: “We are very disappointed with the outcome after working for several weeks firstly preparing a CVA proposal, which was rejected by the group’s creditors, and subsequently pursuing the sale of all or part of the group’s business and assets with a number of prospective purchasers.
“Sadly a sale of the business and assets of the group on a going concern basis did not prove possible, following the last minute withdrawal of an offer that was close to completion.
“We had to act quickly once the prospect of a going concern sale fell away to safeguard the assets of the companies operating under the Spudulike group.
“We worked with the group’s management team and staff in all outlets on Friday to effect as smooth a closure as possible at very short notice.
“We are now focusing on seeking any interest in the group’s remaining assets whilst managing the impact of the closures on former employees, helping them prepare and submit claims for any arrears of wages, statutory notice entitlement and redundancy pay.”
The first Spudulike was opened in Edinburgh in 1974.
