THE final vestiges of one of West-ern Australia’s oldest family com-panies, Bovell’s Bakery, is being broken up by Pitcher Partners.
The firm has been appointed to liquidate the funds vested in the Bovell’s shell, now known as ACN 091511812, left over from its last receivership in 2002.
"We are liquidators of a company that is a members voluntary administration," he said.
"The name was changed because the company that bought the bus-iness wanted to retain the Bovell’s name."
However, the Bovell’s Pies brand lives on as part of Granny’s Pies and Cakes offering.
The path of Bovell’s over the past six years has been torturous.
Indeed, even the final stage of its journey to Granny’s ownership was not straightforward.
Bovell’s has been put into admin-istration four times over the past four years.
Not long after the business was bought out of its latest admin-istration its new owner, Family Foods WA Pty Ltd, sold off the Bovell’s brand but retained the bakery’s Blue Ribbon breads brand.
Bovell’s was started by Percy and Mill Bovell around 1928, operating as a home made pie shop in Bayview Terrace, Claremont.
The business continued that way until 1987 when it became an industrial baker.
Things ran smoothly for about a year until its Singaporean-backed holding company Goldbell Holdings went into administration with debts of about $2.1 million.
The business was bought by Peter Piggott who onsold it to the Malay-sian-backed MAS Food Industries.
That company went into admin-istration one month later.
Mr Piggot regained the business.
It was run by Pieman Australia Pty Ltd until Mr Piggott appointed Hall Chadwick accountant Chris William-son as its administrator.
That appointment was triggered by Byford Flour Mills applying to the Supreme Court of Western Australia to have it wound up over debts of $300,000.
Byford Flour Mills’ Trevor Davies bought the business in 2003.
Mr Davies is a director of Family Foods WA.
He onsold the pie business to Granny’s about seven or eight weeks later but retained the Blue Ribbon bread operation.
The old Bovell’s site in O’Connor is currently disused.
