A NORTH Yorkshire catering equipment specialist which re-fitted the kitchens of BuckinghamPalace has gone into administration.

Holmes Catering Equipment, based in Full Sutton, near York, has appointed Geoffrey Martin & Co as administrators following what it has described as "cashflow issues".

As well as the Royal Household contract, which was worth £500,000 in 2001, the business counts some of the UK biggest companies as customers including Tesco, Morrisons, local authorities, hotel chains.

A number of redundancies have been made as a result of going into administration though neither the company nor administrators confirmed how many.

They did say however that the "majority of the workforce" had been retained by administrators, who are trading the business in order to complete current outstanding customer contracts.

With a turnover exceeding £5 million, joint administrators James Sleight and John Twizell say they are "confident" finding a buyer for Holmes Catering Equipment.

Mr Sleight said: "The business has a strong brand and forward order book and is an attractive proposition for a competitor, investor or related business.

"I have already received many expressions of interest and am confident a buyer will be found."

Founded in 1987, Holmes Catering Equipment specialises in the design, manufacture and installation of full commercial kitchen schemes, food retail displays, foodservice counters and restaurant interiors.

In 1997 the business and its then team of 25 staff, renovated the massive main kitchen and several associated rooms in the blaze-ravaged Windsor Castle, before winning the Buckingham House contract in 2001 after beating off stiff competition from five tenderers in the south.

The company's 45 staff spent months creating stainless steel work counters, sinks, benches, hot cupboards plus ventilation canopies at the firm's workshops near Stamford Bridge.

Previous customers also include Bank of England, Goldman Sachs International and Edinburgh Woollen Mills.

The Buckingham Palace contract was more lucrative that the Windsor Castle renovation work which was worth £280,000 and involved impromptu inspections by the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York and Prince Edward.

At the time the Queen was so grateful to Holmes Catering Equipment that she invited staff to a ceremony at which she awarded them specially struck medals.