Bankrupt alcopop maker to be saved

An alcopop company that went into administration, despite having a £12m turnover, looks like it might be rescued.

Spencers Drinks, of Swadlincote, Leicestershire, went bust after getting a six-figure Customs & Excise bill which it was not expecting, and could not pay.

The company was turning out more than a million bottles a week, including the Vodka Ice, Vodka Shotz and Rum Cooler brands.

Ten workers were laid off by administrators CBA of Leicester.

But Mark Tailby of CBA says he is now hopeful

that the business can be sold and the jobs of the remaining 30 employees saved: "We are in talks with a number of interested parties, and

the plan is to sell the whole business.

"The company received a large duty bill, which it was not expecting, and this forced it into administration.

"The problem came about because the business was not accounting for the duty correctly."

Discussions to sell the

company, he added, are ongoing, and a purchaser would hopefully be found within the next month.

Spencers Drinks was launched in 1999 and sold to breweries, retailers and supermarkets throughout the UK.

All enquires regarding the acquisition of the company and/or its business with a view to a sale as a going concern should be directed to: Neil Money, CBA, 39 Castle Street, Leicester LE1 5WN; telephone 0116 262 6804, fax 0116 217 1404.

Spencers Drinks was the subject of an adverse judgement from the Portman Group in 2004 over sexual names given to its Shotz test-tube range.

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