Mon, 24 Nov 2025 | BUSINESS SALE
A family-run craft bakery specialising in Caribbean products has been acquired out of administration. Smethwick-based Sunrise Bakery fell into administration earlier this month largely as a result of rising costs.
The business was founded in 1966 to serve the community of local residents from the Caribbean and went on to establish itself as one of the UK’s largest suppliers of Caribbean Artisan bread, buns and cakes.
However, the company recently underwent a sustained period of losses, primarily driven by rising operational costs. William Herman Limited, the company behind the Sunrise Bakery brand, subsequently fell into administration on November 13 2025, with Mark Siddall and Gareth Wilcox of Opus Restructuring & Insolvency appointed as joint administrators.
Immediately upon their appointment, the joint administrators secured a sale of the business and assets of the company to a third-party buyer. The deal ensures the continuation of trading at the bakery, as well as the preservation of all 23 jobs, with all employees transferring to the buyer as part of the transaction.
Mark Siddall, director and joint administrator at Opus Restructuring & Insolvency, commented: "We are delighted to have secured the rescue of a business with such heritage, having traded in various forms since 1966.”
"Safeguarding the jobs of the dedicated workforce and ensuring the bakery's future was our absolute priority, and we are very pleased to have achieved that outcome."
In accounts for the year to March 31 2024, William Herman Limited’s fixed assets were valued at slightly over £123,000 and current assets at approximately £143,000. However, the company’s net liabilities at the time exceeded £280,000.
Insolvencies have been on the rise this year, with businesses continuing to be hit by rising costs, additional tax burdens and weak consumer confidence
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