Food group Albert Fisher has lost a decade-long fight for survival, and has been placed in receivership.

Albert Fisher Group's 3,000 staff are waiting to hear of job losses as receiver KPMG carves up the company, which supplies vegetables, seafood and chilled salad and fruit to major UK supermarkets.

The board... has concluded that it has no option but to invite its lenders to appoint administrative receivers

Albert Fisher Group statement

Mike McLoughlin, corporate recovery partner at KPMG, said prospects for sale were boosted by Albert Fisher's "strong market position".

"We are hopeful of concluding a sale of each of the businesses quickly to secure as many jobs as possible," Mr McLoughlin said.

KPMG said it was prioritising talks with Albert Fisher customers, suppliers, creditors and staff to ensure "business as normal" during the sell-off process.

Reversal of fortunes

The collapse followed a failure by Albert Fisher directors to reach agreement with lenders at crisis talks, called as the group's finances worsened amid a trade slide.

The board was left with "no option but to invite its lenders to appoint administrative receivers" to UK operations, a statement on Thursday said.

The decision ended a prolonged campaign to revive a firm which was once a darling of London's stock market, achieving a market valuation of �784m after a period of rapid 1980s expansion.

But the firm floundered amid the early 1990s recession, and while Stephen Walls, appointed chairman in 1992 to head a rescue bid, achieved some success, his credibility suffered over a badly received, and ditched, proposal to sell Albert Fisher's seafood operations.

Dashed hopes of a 1997 takeover, thought to have involved US-based Chiquita brands, also disappointed shareholders.

Unhappy Christmas

The company has continued to sell divisions in Europe and the US in an effort to ease the longstanding debt burden, and strengthened its board with figures such as David Jarvis, from 1991-95 chief executive of Hilton International, and a former director of Allied Domecq.

But falling fish and frozen foods prices stymied efforts to stabilise finances, with debt rising to �93.1m by September last year.

The introduction of a new management structure was deferred by weak Christmas trading.

Trading in Albert Fisher shares was suspended on Thursday at 2p, a price which valued the firm at �14.4m.