120 jobs at risk as Chichester cake factory More Food enters administration for second time

One hundred and twenty jobs at the Chichester cake factory trading as More Food are at risk after Sussex Bakes Ltd entered administration on 11 May 2026. It is the second time the underlying business has collapsed in roughly a decade.

The High Court of Justice, Business and Property Courts of England and Wales, sealed the appointment under court number CR-2026-003649. The notice was published in the London Gazette on 15 May 2026.

The company

Sussex Bakes Ltd was incorporated on 31 August 2017 and operates from 4/5 Rutland Way, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 7RT. Its registered trade description covers non-specialised wholesale of food, beverages and tobacco, and the factory produces cakes under the More Food trading name.

The business has roots that predate Sussex Bakes itself. More Food Ltd entered administration around a decade ago before being acquired by Sussex Bakes in 2017. That acquisition brought the factory back into production, but the company that rescued it has now itself entered administration. Administration is the formal insolvency process in which licensed insolvency practitioners take control of a company to try to rescue it, sell it as a going concern, or realise its assets for creditors.

The administrator

David Kemp of Exigen Group is the lead administrator, holding IP number 24510. An IP number is the licence number issued by an insolvency practitioner's recognised professional body, identifying the individual practitioner. Richard Hunt, also of Exigen Group, has been named as joint administrator alongside Kemp. Joint administrators are two or more insolvency practitioners appointed to act together, with either typically able to act alone unless the appointment specifies otherwise.

The officers

All directors on record had resigned before the administration date. Stephen Christopher Wells, appointed on 1 September 2017, resigned on 15 April 2026, roughly three weeks before the administration. Mark Dorrill served as director from 1 September 2017 until 4 June 2020. Caron Howe was appointed on 26 September 2017 and resigned on 11 April 2021. Jayson Mark Scheib served from 1 September 2017 until 25 February 2019. Rachel Ann Clark and Robert Ian Pollard were both appointed on 4 November 2021 and resigned on 7 February 2022.

Secured lender

Bibby Financial Services Ltd, acting as security trustee, holds an outstanding registered charge over Sussex Bakes Ltd. The charge was created and delivered on 15 September 2017 and takes the form of a first legal mortgage over all land belonging to the company, including buildings, fixtures, fixed plant and machinery, easements, rights and agreements in respect of such property, and all proceeds of sale. A secured creditor is one whose debt is backed by a charge over the company's assets, ranking ahead of unsecured creditors when assets are distributed.

What this means for creditors and employees

Once administrators are appointed, they assume control of the company and issue statutory communications to known creditors in due course. Correspondence is conducted through Exigen Group at the contact address listed on the notice. Creditors wishing to record the amounts owed to them do so by submitting a proof of debt, which is the formal claim form used in insolvency proceedings to record the sum a creditor asserts is outstanding.

The appointment also triggers a moratorium under Schedule B1, paragraph 43 of the Insolvency Act 1986. That moratorium pauses most creditor enforcement action, meaning creditors generally cannot start or continue court proceedings against the company without the court's permission.

Customers who have paid for orders not yet fulfilled, or who hold deposits or gift cards, rank as unsecured creditors in the administration. Unsecured creditors are those whose debts are not backed by a charge; they sit behind secured creditors in the order of distribution from any asset realisations.

Employee claims for unpaid wages, notice pay and redundancy are handled separately from ordinary unsecured claims. Where the company cannot meet those obligations, the Redundancy Payments Service, a government body, processes statutory payments to eligible employees whose employer has become insolvent. The extent of any payments depends on individual circumstances and the statutory caps that apply.