A STIRLING-based drinks company that supplied premium fruit juices and smoothies to supermarkets and five-star hotels such as Gleneagles has gone into liquidation.
Shareholder Frank Pawley ceased trading at Get Juiced, which began as an enterprise in a St Andrews coffee shop 15 years ago, after the company succumbed to a cash shortfall.
The liquidation will lead to the loss of about 20 jobs
Provisional liquidator Donald McNaught, director of insolvency in the Glasgow office of accountants Johnston Carmichael, said the decision to wind up the business came after a "significant cash burn" had been sanctioned to expand its production range and ramp up its volume of sales.
The company, whose customers include Aldi and other major supermarkets, had invested in high-end production equipment and broadened its sales distribution network to fulfil the expansion strategy.
But Mr McNaught said the plan had narrowly failed.
He said: "It was definitely at the growth stage of the business cycle. They had a pretty significant cash burn as they looked to develop new products and looked to extend the customer base.
"They were very much aiming for volumes of business - later on, had they achieved the volumes, the cost base would have been more commensurate with that.
"They were financed by the shareholder, who took the decision it was not sustainable to do that. They weren't really that far from bridging the gap."
Mr McNaught said it was too early in the liquidation process to comment on the extent of the company's liabilities. But he signalled his optimism that a buyer for the business could be found, and revealed he had received inquiries of interest before his official appointment as liquidator.
Mr McNaught said: "Before I was appointed, the rumour mill started. I think we will definitely get some interest, hopefully in a competitive situation."
Asked if the business represented a good opportunity, he added: "Absolutely. This company has invested a lot of money into product, to get the accreditations it needed to be able to take it to supermarkets and other very big hotel clients.
"They also invested very heavily in the production line.
"In my mind, it is a great opportunity for someone to pick up a good brand with a great customer base and a ready-to-go production line. It is very much a premium product. If you go into Gleneagles or St Andrews Bay [now Fairmont Hotel], hotels like that are customers of the business."
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