Shock Collapse Of Scottish Supplier Leaves 71 Jobs Gone And £5m Hole

A Scottish wholesale food supplier has collapsed into liquidation, resulting in the loss of 71 jobs and exposing debts of more than £5 million.

Enterprise Foods Limited, which traded as Localist, has ceased trading after efforts to refinance and restructure the business proved unsuccessful. The company, based in East Kilbride, had operated for more than three decades, supplying thousands of products to retailers across Scotland and beyond.

Liquidators were appointed following a petition to the court, with the business understood to have struggled under mounting cashflow pressures. These were driven in part by bad debts linked to customer failures, alongside increasingly challenging trading conditions across the retail and hospitality sectors.

Despite attempts by directors to stabilise the company’s financial position, the scale of its liabilities ultimately proved insurmountable. The collapse has not only led to significant job losses but is also expected to have wider repercussions across the supply chain.

Industry sources indicate that a number of smaller suppliers are now owed money, raising concerns about a potential knock-on impact for primary producers and local food businesses that relied on the company as a key route to market.

Liquidators are now working to realise the company’s remaining assets in an effort to repay creditors, although returns to unsecured creditors are expected to be limited given the level of secured debt. Support is being provided to affected employees through redundancy services and government-backed assistance programmes.

The collapse adds to growing pressure within the UK food and drink supply chain, where rising costs, fragile margins and ongoing market volatility continue to challenge businesses across both retail and foodservice channels.