IT was a case of use it or lose it and in an age when blue sky thinking is everything, there were only grey clouds over north Liverpool today as bakery Satterthwaites announced it was closing for good this weekend.
The family business, founded 102 years ago in Southport, will liquidate eight shops in Crosby, Waterloo, Formby, Maghull and Bootle after the firm failed to find a satisfactory buyer. Its assets will now be handed to administrators.
'There's a lady, in her 80s, who
comes in three or four times a week
and has done all her life. We decided
to ring her up yesterday to break
the news. We didn't want her coming
here and wondering what had happened'
This morning in the South Road, Waterloo, branch, staff and customers were doing their best to keep a lid on their emotions as the shop, ironically, was doing its briskest trade in years.
Linda Kelly, Lynne Hampson and Sue Reid have 28 years' service between them. Now they can expect only Government Statutory Redundancy payments to see them through the bleak winter ahead.
Brave faces: Linda Kelly, Sue Reid and Lynne Hampson
“We can track whole generations of families,” said Assistant Manager Sue. “Years ago, sweethearts coming in to order engagement cakes. A bit later there would be the order for a wedding cake, the christening cake. Then their toddlers eating their first hot sausage roll, and a bit further down the line coming in on their own after school. Now they are grown up and it all begins again.”
Except this time it doesn't. Many critics say the firm has failed to keep up with modern times. With more irony, then, owner Roger Wilson took to Twitter to announce the news.
“Sadly, I do have to announce that Saturday, October 13, will be our last day of trading. My deep apologies to all our beautiful customers.
Satterthwaites“Our attempts to find a buyer for the whole firm as a going concern came to nothing. Better to close down in a orderly way than to crash.”
Last month, Liverpool Confidential revealed that Satterthwaites was desperately seeking a buyer. But when Wilson was questioned today, it seemed there had been offers, but none, in his business judgement, passed muster. “None convinced me that they had a viable plan. Some might say I was wrong. Mybad ifso,” he tweeted, all begging the question: is liquidation better than sale?
Satterthwaites has been accused of hiding its considerable lights under a bushel where advertising and promotion are concerned and perhaps in a nod to more financially savvy high street rivals, Wilson added: “Starting again I'd not assume that having a better product trumped hype and clever selling.”
Meanwhile, at South Road, the procession of (mainly) grown men were close to tears. “We had a chap in here yesterday who was inconsolable,” says Linda, who still finds time to make us a cup of tea. “Been coming in for years. We never knew his name or anything, but Satterthwaites clearly means a lot to him. He was sobbing his heart out.”
She added: “People are saying thing like, 'what am I going to do for Christmas?' They are genuinely devastated. We don't know what to say, we keep hoping they won't set us off too.
“There's a lady, in her 80s, who comes in three or four times a week and has done all her life. We decided to ring her up yesterday to break the news. We didn't want her coming here and wondering what had happened.”
Satterthwaites prides itself on baking with top quality ingredients – which is reflected in the price point, however the shops are closing because of lack of footfall.
Yet, some staff thought several of the leased premises should have been shed and that more could have been done to entice people into the shops.
“We have never really done any advertising, or any offers," said one. "We are right by a beach with thousands of families streaming past in the summer. And yet, apart from four-for-three sausage rolls, we have never done deals on anything.”
Back on Twitter, Wilson said: “We hope that some of our shops will eventually re-open under new management, but this will be in the hands of the liquidator.
“102 years is a long time for a family firm. I wish with all my heart it could have been longer, but the world has changed too much. Terribly sad.”
