Sir Paul McCartney’s ex-wife Heather Mills’ meat free food firm goes into administration with 112 jobs at risk – as she pays tribute to her team for their ‘blood, sweat and tears’
- Heather Mills launched VBites in 1993 and she said that she was devastated
- It was one of leading manufacturers of plant-based meat and cheese in the UK
- Mills also blamed rising energy costs and Brexit for the collapse of the business
Sir Paul McCartney’s ex-wife Heather Mills has had her ‘woke’ meat free food firm go into administration.
Mills said she was devastated by the company’s demise, putting 112 jobs at risk just weeks before Christmas.
She paid tribute to her team, who according to Mills had put ‘blood, sweat and tears’ into the business.
She said on her website: ‘It’s with regret that VBites Foods, a company very dear to my heart, is entering into administration.
‘I offered every solution I feasibly could to keep it going.
‘Sadly VBites ultimately fell victim to the galvanised misinformation currently being undertaken by the meat and dairy industries as well as the corporate greed in our market.’
Mills also blamed rising energy costs and Brexit for the collapse of the business.
‘Brexit has been an utter disaster for the supply and maintenance of the sector and the government doubtless has a lot to answer for,’ she continued.
Heather Mills said she was devastated by the company’s demise, putting 112 jobs at risk just weeks before Christmas
Sir Paul McCartney’s ex-wife Heather Mills has had her ‘ woke ‘ meat free food firm go into administration. Pictured: The pair together in 2002
Mills also blamed rising energy costs and Brexit for the collapse of the business
Mills launched VBites in 1993 and it has been one of the leading manufacturers and wholesalers of plant-based meat and cheese in the UK.
She has been a devoted vegan and animal rights activist for the past three decades.
Mills has publicly credited the vegan diet with saving her life after a car accident in 1993 left her needing her leg amputated – stating that abstaining from animal products dramatically improved her health.
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She later received a prosthetic leg and resumed her modelling career.
She confessed in 2018: ‘I didn’t go vegan for the animals or the environment it was just after I lost my leg and the infection was spreading.’
But the company had experienced increased pressure on cashflow due to the impact of rising raw material costs and energy prices, as well as a softening of demand for alternative protein products in the wake of the cost of living crisis.
The company operates from two manufacturing sites, in Peterlee, County Durham, and Corby, Northamptonshire.
Two years ago the company was on the up after it sealed a multimillion-pound partnership with German food giant Pfeifer & Langen – a £3bn turnover group which owns major brands including KP Foods, Monster Munch and Hula Hoops.
The deal resulted in Pfeifer taking a 25.1pc minority stake in the business.
But sales of vegan food have been hit by rising food bills as consumers no longer have the money to splash on expensive alternatives.
In August, Beyond Meat, which supplies McDonald’s, reported that its sales had fallen 30.5pc over the previous three months and in the past year Pret A Manger has closed half its vegetarian and vegan-only outlets.
Interpath Advisory have been appointed joint administrators.
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