Drinks wholesaler Jolly Good Beer has gone into administration, leaving dozens of small producers out of pocket.
The company – which trades under the name Drink Fresh Limited – announced yesterday (14 August) it had undertaken insolvency and ceased trading with immediate effect.
In a message to suppliers, MD Ciaron Reynolds said that since taking over JGB in April 2023 it had “proven to be incredibly difficult to turn the business around”.
“Over the last 15 months we have pushed extensive resources into trying to rebuild and improve trade – but have faced a series of setbacks and unfortunately cannot make it work,” he said. “I am truly sorry for the impact that this will cause for our staff, customers and suppliers.”
Kingsbridge CS had been appointed as insolvency practitioner for JGB and all the company’s staff had been made redundant, Reynolds confirmed.
Although the full extent of Jolly Good Beer’s debts is not yet known, many suppliers confirmed they were facing a shortfall in money owed for stock sold via the wholesaler.
Posting on X, brewery Iron Pier said: “We’ve got a little hole to plug, and some debt to pay for. If you are in London or the south east and used to buy our beer through Jolly Good. Give us a shout. We probably deliver direct or via other wholesalers to your area.”
Ascension Cider said it now had “a 250-bins-of-rescued-apples shaped dent in our finances”.
“If you got our cider through Jolly Good Beer, or want to get some full juice cider on your taps, please holler at us,” the cidermaker added.
Duration Brewing, meanwhile, which counted Jolly Good Beer as its second-largest individual customer, said the loss to its business would be “considerable”.
“But the loss isn’t just financial,” added co-founder Miranda Hudson. “Losing these kind of wholesalers comes at a great loss to the industry as a whole. Not only have several great beer advocates lost their livelihoods, it also means less choice for independent venues and a reduced visibility and sales for independent suppliers like Duration.”
Read more: Why pre-pack administrations have left drinks suppliers raging
Jolly Good Beer founder Yvan Seth, who sold it to Drink Fresh as a going concern in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, apologised in a message to suppliers.
“It destroys me to see everything I spent a decade building, and trying to hold together and save, end like this,” he said. “I apologise to everyone affected by this… we all put everything we could into trying to recover, but I failed to make it work again. I understand the anger and frustration – I know exactly how it feels all too well myself.”
It follows the collapse of beer distributor Eebria earlier this year.
The business was sold in a pre-pack administration to Beer52, leaving small brewers with little protection or recourse to get back monies owed, owing to their status as unsecured creditors.
No comments yet