TWENTY five jobs have been saved after a buyer was found for the North Yorkshire catering equipment specialist which re-fitted the kitchens of Buckingham Palace.

Full Sutton-based Holmes Catering Equipment went into administration in October following what directors described as “cashflow issues”.

Yesterday administrators from Geoffrey Martin & Co confirmed they had secured the sale of the business to Gloucester-based Space Catering Equipment.

The sale of the business will preserve the Holmes brand with about 25 jobs being saved at its North Yorkshire headquarters.

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

The acquisition by Space marks its first foothold in the North, adding to its existing businesses in Gloucester and London.

Space managing director Ian Bidmead said: “We’re excited by the acquisition of the well-established and well regarded Holmes name and look forward to welcoming the business and its people into the Space fold.”

The new team will be led by Lee Martin, who has been appointed as managing director alongside the retained core Holmes team.

Holmes Catering Equipment completed the £500,000 Royal Household contract in 2001.

That work included creating stainless steel work counters, sinks, benches, hot cupboards and ventilation canopies at the firm’s workshops near Stamford Bridge.

Prior to that, in 1997, its team renovated the main kitchen and several associated rooms in the blaze-ravaged Windsor Castle.

The business, founded in 1987, counts some of the UK’s biggest companies as customers, including Tesco, Morrisons, local authorities and hotel chains, and previous customers include the Bank of England, Goldman Sachs International and Edinburgh Woollen Mills.