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Grocery chain Planet Organic has reportedly put administrators on standby as it attempts to find a backers to secure its future, according to Sky News.
The company filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators on Thursday, to provide it with breathing space from creditors.
According to City sources the company requires a multi-million pound cash injection by mid-April to survive.
Discussions with a number of interested parties continue after Waitrose pulled out of talks last week.
Any sale of the business could happen as a pre-pack administration deal, although sources told Sky that the company’s management, led by chief executive George Dymond, was focused on keeping the business as intact as possible.
In a message to staff on Thursday seen by Sky News, Dymond said: “Over the past 12 months, we have been extremely busy fundraising in order to raise money to support the business and unlock our store expansion plan.
“Despite our wonderful stores being largely profitable, a herculean effort by the buying team to improve our margins and a huge improvement in the costs of running both stores and the e-commerce business, it is a fact that the business is still loss-making.”
Planet Organic, which was founded in 1995, has been working with Interpath Advisory on a review of its strategic options since early this year.
