"Chicken King" has foul time as butchers group Crawshaw calls in administrators

Butchery chain Crawshaw, backed by the “Chicken King”, Ranjit Boparan, on Wednesday revealed it is calling in administrators.

The retailer which has 54 stores, said it has failed to raise emergency funds to stay afloat, putting more than 600 jobs at risk.

Crawshaw Group added that it “intends to appoint administrators shortly with the purpose of seeking buyers for the group’s business and assets on a going concern basis”.

Its shares were suspended from trading on the London Stock Exchange.

The AIM-listed firm’s update comes just more than a month after it said first-half losses had grown, comparable sales had slumped and High Street shopper numbers had fallen because of online competition.

This will come as a blow to Boparan who last year took a 29.9% stake in the Yorkshire-headquartered chain in a deal that also saw the entrepreneur’s 2 Sisters Food Group supply the business.

Crawshaw — which appointed former Asda meat buyer Jim Viggars as chief executive this year — was founded in 1954.