Northern Irish potato packer and crisp maker Glens of Antrim Potatoes has stopped trading and made almost all of its 95 staff redundant after entering administration, nine months after it filed accounts showing a return to profit and a positive outlook.

Stuart Irwin, Ian Leonard and Robin Coughlin of advisory firm Interpath were appointed joint administrators on Monday, 21 September, under the UK insolvency procedure. A skeleton staff has been kept on to support the administrators, who are seeking interest in the business and its assets.

The 54-year-old company packed potatoes for supermarkets and grocery chains across Ireland from sites at Cushendall and Ballymena in County Antrim and made hand-cooked crisps under the Glens of Antrim Crisps brand.

The farmers who supplied it have been left with potatoes still in the ground and no buyer, Jim Allister, the MP for North Antrim, told the News Letter, calling the collapse "a huge problem" for the company's growers and "a substantial blow to the agricultural sector".

"Having spoken to the administrator, it is not yet clear why the company collapsed so suddenly," he said. "Not only are 95 jobs being lost, but there is a big network of growers which could be left in the lurch. This is a serious matter, particularly at this time of year."

Interpath said rising input costs across the agri-food sector over the past few years had put businesses up and down the supply chain under heavy pressure.

"For Glens of Antrim, these pressures had a significant and detrimental impact on cashflow," the administrators said, adding that the directors had explored options including refinancing and investment before concluding that no solvent option was available.

"Glens of Antrim has been growing and supplying potatoes across Ireland for over 50 years, so this is a tremendously sad outcome for the business, its dedicated team, the agri-food sector in Northern Ireland, and the wider community in Ballymena and Cushendall," Irwin said.

Lorries in Glens of Antrim Potatoes livery parked at the company's green-clad depot, seen through a steel palisade fence with a CCTV warning sign

RETURN TO PROFIT

The company's last filed accounts, for the year to 31 July 2025, show a business that had just returned to profit.

Turnover fell 4 per cent to £13.8mn ($18.2mn), but gross profit rose by more than half to £3.9mn, turning an operating loss into an operating profit of almost £1mn, according to the accounts filed at Companies House on 16 December 2025.

The company made £596,000 after tax, against a loss the year before, and paid a dividend of £272,000.

"The return to profit has been the result of positive commercial pricing discussions with key customers following a period of cost inflation in potatoes, other raw materials and business running costs," the directors wrote in their strategic report, signed by director Charles McKillop Jnr.

[table slug="potato-sector-distress-glens-antrim-accounts" subtitle="Years to 31 July, £. Losses in brackets"]

The directors said prices for UK and Irish ware potatoes, those sold for eating, over the previous two financial years had been "significantly higher" than before, and that current prices were "not expected to reach these recent peaks".

The 2025 European harvest was large: US fry maker Lamb Weston reported in July a "significant surplus in the European potato market due to expanded potato acreage and a robust crop".

The directors described the outlook for the 2027 financial year as positive, said forecasts to that year showed the company could operate within its bank facilities, and recorded "no significant events affecting the company since the financial year-end".

The auditors, PGR Accountants, reported no material uncertainty over the company's ability to continue as a going concern.

The 2027 financial year began on 1 August 2026, seven weeks before the administrators were appointed.

NET DEBT AND A TAX DISPUTE

The same accounts show how little room the company had. It ended the year with net debt of £3.02mn and short-term liabilities exceeding its short-term assets by £1.14mn, and the directors acknowledged "significant reliance on its bankers, banking arrangements and available credit facilities".

HM Revenue & Customs had challenged research and development tax claims the company made in earlier years. The company said it was actively defending them, and withheld the details on the grounds that disclosure could prejudice the outcome.

The company was also investing, adding £1.1mn of fixed assets during the year, most of it plant and machinery. Its bank borrowing due after more than one year nearly tripled to £726,000, while its bank overdraft came down to £1.70mn from £2.48mn. A legal charge in favour of Northern Bank over a property at 116 Middlepark was registered in November 2024.

In June Tesco announced that the company had won a contract to supply its "Perfect for" potato range in Northern Ireland, the News Letter reported. Glens of Antrim had put £180,000 into the range, including a new automated packaging line, according to the paper.

The accounts record an average of 37 employees, including directors. During the same year the company paid £1.82mn to a business under common ownership for agency staff, more than its own staff costs of £1.32mn. The administrators did not say how many of the 95 staff were agency workers.

The Companies House register records a run of changes at the top of the family-controlled company this year. Sean Martin McKillop was appointed a director on 27 February and Kathleen McKillop stepped down on 3 March.

Accounts for the year to 31 July 2026 have not been filed and are not due until 30 April 2027. On Wednesday the register still listed the company as active.