Administrators appointed at tractor company

Rea Valley Tractors is well-known for selling, servicing and repairing agricultural machinery

Administrators have been appointed to a tractor company and 149 employees made redundant after a failure to secure a buyer for the struggling business.

Rea Valley Tractors sold, serviced and repaired agricultural machinery as well as workplace storage solutions.

It has headquarters in Burton-on-Trent and sites in Ormskirk, Denbigh, Knighton, Welshpool, Middlewich, Cubley and Shrewsbury.

Administrators at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said the redundancies applied with immediate effect, and 20 staff had been retained to help with wind down the business.

Tim Higgins, Edward Williams and Jane Steer of PwC have been appointed as joint administrators of Rea Valley Tractors Limited and its parent company, Dunstall Holdings Limited.

In a statement on Wednesday, they said the companies had been trying to secure a long-term future through the sale of all or part of the businesses as a result of difficult trading conditions over a prolonged period and inflationary cost pressure.

'Great sadness'

No viable offers were received for the group as a whole, and the directors had been left with no alternative but to place the companies into administration, they added.

The administrators said they were working with the government's Redundancy Payments Service to ensure those affected received statutory entitlements as soon as possible.

"Rea Valley Tractors is one of the most recognisable names in the local agricultural industry and it's with great sadness that it has entered administration today along with Dunstall Holdings," said Mr Higgins.

"Regrettably, 149 employees have been made redundant - we know how unsettling this will be for the people affected, as well as the group's customers at this important time of year, and we will be providing all parties with the necessary support."