Beeston Castle Auction Mart closes as Wright Marshall goes into administration

Beeston Castle auction mart has closed with loss of 37 jobs after operators Wright Marshall went into administration, it has emerged.

The historic auction mart is the last surviving one in Cheshire and is a massive blow to the county’s farming industry.

FRP Advisory in Manchester has been appointed administrators for Wright Marshall, which also sells rural and commercial property and fine art and runs a lettings and property management business.

It has emerged the company stopped trading last week and had to cancel Thursday’s auction mart.

One employee who spoke to Nantwich News yesterday said staff were “in the dark” and did not know what was happening.

We also contacted directors of Wright Marshall, including Vice chairman Gwyn Williams, by phone and email but have had no reply.

But in a statement on the auctioneers section of the Wright Marshall website, a statement says: “Wright Marshall Limited – In Administration. The Joint Administrators act as agents of the Company and without personal liability. The affairs, business and property of the Company are being managed by Anthony Collier and Ben Woolrych who were appointed Joint Administrators on 26 June 2019.”

The same statement appears on the fine art, estate agent and lettings, and commercial and rural sections of the website.

In a statement released to the media, Anthony Collier of FRP Advisory, said they had been appointed administrators today (June 26).

Mr Collier said: “Following a period of challenging trading and a downturn in livestock volumes being sold through the rural auction mart, the company suffered cash flow pressures which left the directors with no option but to place the business into administration.

“The company employs 129 people across its 8 sites in Cheshire and Derbyshire.

“Following their appointment, the Joint Administrators will continue to trade the real estate and professional services divisions of the Company, as well as the fine art auctioneers whilst a buyer is bought for those businesses.

“The rural auction mart has ceased trading with immediate effect and all 37 employees involved in that business have been made redundant.

“The challenges facing the agricultural sector are well documented, and the downturn in livestock volumes being sold through the auction mart have resulted in this business making unsustainable losses.

“Our focus now is on identifying a purchaser for the other aspects of the business in order to maximise any returns for creditors, and of course to work closely with the Redundancy Payments Service to support all affected employees at what we know will be a difficult time.”

Interested parties should contact Simon Farr at FRP Advisory on 0161 833 3344.

Wright Marshall began trading in 2014 following the merger of Frank Marshall which ran Chelford market and Wright Manley which ran Beeston.

After the merger, Wright Marshall closed Chelford in March 2017 after 116 years of trading as it was earmarked for development.

(pic of auction mart by Alan Murray-Rust under creative commons licence)