BREAKING NEWS: Official confirms Northampton bakery firm Oliver Adams has gone bust

END OF AN ERA: Oliver Adams has gone bust - meaning some 100 staff and more than 100 years of trading legacy in Northampton has ended today.

Baking ovens have fired for the last time at all of the Oliver Adams an official has confirmed - meaning all 100 plus employees have been made redundant and all its outlets have now closed.

Ian Cooke of St James-based insolvency experts BRI, which has been working to keep the company afloat over the past 12 months, has confirmed Oliver Adams' efforts "have failed."

Mr Cooke met with more than 100 staff at the Gladstone Road headquarters at 10am this morning to talk the staff through the redundancy procedure alongside a member of the Jobcentre Plus. Some of those employees have not been paid for the past five weeks.

A Compulsory Voluntary Agreement (CVA) had been signed on June 1 last year, which aimed to help pay off the company's Â£1.7 million worth of debts.

Staff at the Wellingborough Road Oliver Adams turned up to work today to find the locks changed and a sign on the door informing them of the company's demise.

But it has not been successful, meaning today signals the end of the company's century-old links to Northampton.

Mr Cooke said: "We were trying to work with the directors and management to provide a softer landing for the company and its employees.

"This couldn't be achieved.

"As supervisors of the CVA, we have certain obligations.

"When it fails, we have to petition the courts for a compulsory liquidation.

"That remained the intention when i left the office yesterday.

"This morning, the director has instructed another non-local firm of insolvency practitioners to take the required steps to put the company into voluntary liquidation."

Those who attended the meeting told the Chron director of the company Mark Jarvis was not present at the meeting today. He and his business partner Martin Deness took over the firm just over two years ago, taking over from Thomas Adams, a direct descendant of the company's founder.

Mr Jarvis has yet to make an official statement.

There is set to be a separate meeting of creditors - the people who Oliver Adams Limited still owes money to - on April 13.

Staff, meanwhile, will have to claim redundancy from the Government using an online form.

Throughout today tributes have been pouring in for the loss of a high street staple in Northampton.

Labour group leader on Northampton Borough Council, Councillor Danielle Stone, said; "It is a sad time as Oliver Adams Bakery has been a big feature of our high street in the town for decades. Whether in the town centre, Weston Favell shopping centre or Kingsley Park Terrace you could always find an Oliver Adams shop and the quality of food was always high. I always found their customer service good as well.

"It’s always a real shame when a well-established local company like Oliver Adams disappears. My immediate sympathies are with the staff who now face redundancy and have been given no proper notice.”