A BAKERY with 30 shops in the North-East has gone into administration after being hit by rising wheat prices.

The P&A Partnership has been appointed administrators of the Woodhead Bakery, based in Scarborough.

The family business, founded 74 years ago, also supplies Morrison supermarkets.

This week, 30 of the company’s 310 employees have been made redundant, but administrators will carry on trading in the hope of finding a buyer.

Joint administrator Christopher White said: “We believe that by continuing to trade, we have the best chance of finding a buyer and we have retained as many employees as we possibly can.

“Unfortunately, Woodhead Bakery has been hit by inflation and the impact of rising global wheat prices, in addition to harsh economic conditions on the High Street.”

The economic downturn has hit many of the region’s bakers hard.

In September, it emerged that Tees Valley Bakery, in Middlesbrough, a wholesale baker for schools, colleges and retailers, had ceased trading.

In January last year, County Durham-based Peters Bakery, which runs a bakery and chain of shops, asked its 580 staff to take a ten per cent pay cut.

That came only weeks after Newcastle-based North-East Bakery, which ran 13 Nichols high street shops, went into administration. In contrast, Newcastle-based Greggs saw record profits this month.