Pittards restructuring agreed

Shareholders of UK leather producers Pittards have accepted a new restructuring plan which includes entering into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) and handing over their pension fund liabilities to the UK Government's Pension Protection Fund (PPF). By the company's own admission, Pittards have been through a tumultuous few months as debts from a £32 million pension plan deficit together with challenging trading conditions and losses at their Leeds plant threatened to engulf the company. The Leeds operation was closed earlier this year and production of shoe and leathergoods leather was transferred to their Yeovil headquarters and the new Ethiopian facilities. Pittards will now change their share structure and raise £2 million via a new issue. A statement issued by the company said 'With their biggest order book for ten years, a dedicated specialist workforce and the new restructuring plan endorsed by shareholders, the future for Pittards once again looks very good.' The handover to the PPF means that 1,600 future pensioners will receive 90% of their expected pensions. Pittards said that the only alternative would have been to call in receivers, which might have led to closure. Pittards have been tanning leather in Somerset since 1826 and once employed 2,500 staff in the UK. They now have 500 employees.