Hickory (Scotland) - Administration

Hickory (Scotland), one of Scotland’s premier event catering businesses, entered administration on 20 November.

The company was established in 2012. It experienced a period of poor trading and margins as a result of Covid, which led to temporary closures of sites and further financial pressure. Working capital requirements became a pressing issue, due in part to high levels of inflation, interest rates and the cost of living crisis. Turnover during the course of last year peaked at £5.6m.

As the levels of activity started to recover in early 2024, the company had a growing funding requirement. Despite the best efforts of the directors, the business faced a range of cash flow challenges in recent weeks and could not continue trading.

Mark Harper and Charles Turner of Opus were appointed joint administrators and said they are actively seeking the sale of the business.