The boss of a North Lakes firm says he is confident that the future remains bright despite having made 25 staff redundant because of the coronavirus crisis
Lorcan Byrne is managing director of Embleton-based Caterite Food and Wine Service which last week cut its 174-strong workforce after the Covid-19 lockdown wiped out 75 per cent of its trade overnight.
Despite swiftly launching a successful click and collect service for the public during lockdown, Caterite has not been able to continue as it was before the enforced closure of hotels, bars, restaurants and schools that make up much of its business.
Mr Byrne said the job losses were a direct result of the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, adding: “It was a heart-breaking decision but one which has protected 145 jobs. We had no other option.
“The hospitality industry has been significantly impacted and while our successful click and collect service and fantastic support from the general public has allowed us to keep the wheels of the business turning, it has only partially replaced our lost trade.”
The company is the Lake District’s leading independent wholesale supplier of fresh fruit and vegetables, chilled and frozen food, grocery, cleaning products and accessories. It was founded by Keswick businessman Keith Graham in his home town in 1969 and he remains chairman.
Within days of the Government announcing that the UK was in lockdown, Caterite changed its business model and launched the click and collect service from its base just off the A66. Since then, thousands of people have used the service but the firm still had to furlough most of its employees as clients closed their doors.
Mr Byrne said: “This has been a challenging few months for many businesses but we are confident that Caterite will continue to employ in excess of 100 local people, support our local families, communities and businesses and play our part in helping Cumbria get back up and running sooner rather than later.”
He added that he was hopeful that Cumbria’s hospitality sector would recover quicker than the rest of the UK. “We hope that Lake District Limited and our 19 million visitors return quicker than expected to support the hospitality sector and the upturn allows us to bring furloughed employees and those we have been forced to release back into the business, plus recruit again ahead of our forecasted expectations.”
