FreshXpress was a discount

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

chain in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It was originally formed in 2007, from the rump of the defunct

Kwik Save Kwik Save is a British convenience store chain. Prior to 2007, it was also a discount supermarket chain that had shops across the United Kingdom. It went into administration in July 2007, but was brought back in April 2012. Its shops were sma ...

chain, by Irish retail entrepreneur Brendan Murtagh. It existed in its original form between July 2007 and March 2008, culminating in it going into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

, and was then resurrected in a smaller form, however, during 2009, the resurrected company also went into administration, and has since ceased to exist.

History

From the remains of Kwik Save

In February 2007, Brendan Murtagh and his son Alan Murtagh, major shareholders in the

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is base ...

-based

Kingspan Kingspan Group plc is a building materials company based in Ireland trading in over 70 countries with 159 factories employing over 15,000 people. The company operates with five divisions; Insulated Panels, Insulation, Light & Air, Water & Energy, ...

building materials group, backed 70% of a £50 million rescue plan for

, with the Kwik Save managing director, Paul Niklas, covering the remaining 30%. Murtagh's son Alan Murtagh had already been a director of the business before he got involved.

A new beginning

FreshXpress Retail Limited first had 56 stores, all of which were formerly ''Kwik Save'' stores before the chain went bankrupt. On 6 July 2007, 56 stores stayed open, forming FreshXpress in an £18m deal, saving around six hundred jobs. The FreshXpress stores officially opened on 21 July 2007. Prodo and The Think Tank assisted with the creation of the new brand. In the middle of September 2007, due to poor trading results, this portfolio of stores was reduced from 56 to just 23 better performing stores, the closed stores were sold in chunks to

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...

, and The Co-op. Many of the stores were leased from the

Somerfield Somerfield (; originally Gateway) was a chain of small to medium-sized supermarkets operating in the United Kingdom. The company also previously owned the Kwik Save chain of discount food stores. The company was taken over by the Co-operative ...

group, and have since been leased to other retailers

Into administration

Between September 2007 to March 2008, more under performing FreshXpress stores were closed down, leaving just nine stores, and Mr Niklas cut his ties with the company. In March 2008, FreshXpress went into administration. On 21 March, David Whitehouse, of ''Menzies Corporate Restructuring'', was appointed joint administrator.

April 2008

Another vehicle called FX Holdings (formerly Ivybrim), received the go ahead at

Manchester Crown Court Manchester Crown Court (Crown Square) is a Crown Court venue which deals with criminal cases at Crown Square in Manchester, England. History Until the 1940s, criminal court cases were heard at the Manchester Assize Courts. However, the assize ...

to acquire the remaining operating outlets. Andrew King, a former executive at

Costcutter Costcutter Supermarkets Group is a business based in the United Kingdom and Ireland primarily operating as a symbol group supplier to various independently owned convenience shops and off-licences. It has operations in the United Kingdom, the ...

, one of the company's suppliers was to head up a nine store chain with 130 employees.

Into administration again

The parent company of the second incarnation of FreshXpress, FX Holdings was placed into administration, and subject to a request for a winding up order in April 2009. All the remaining stores were closed.

References

External links

FreshXpress official website (Web Archive)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freshxpress Retail companies established in 2007 Defunct supermarkets of the United Kingdom British companies established in 2007 Retail companies disestablished in 2009 Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom