Heather Mills in £1m rescue deal for vegan food business
HEATHER MILLS has struck a £1m rescue deal for her vegan food business after accusing the “gaslighting” meat industry of triggering a decline in sales.
Vbites has been bought out of administration a month after its collapse, with Ms Mills vying to rebuild the business after fending off five rival bidders.
The company was pushed to the brink after it was hit by soaring costs and shoppers trading down to cheaper vegan alternatives, according to a report from administrators at Interpath.
Vbites had debts totalling more than £8.3m at the time of its collapse, having racked up losses of £3.1m in the year to March 2023. Despite the rescue deal covering the company’s assets, including factories in Co Durham and Northamptonshire, it did not protect Vbites’ 64 staff, who were made redundant.
However, Ms Mills has since vowed to rehire 40 workers, as first reported by
The Grocer. In comments on social media, Ms Mills said Vbites was forced into administration “unnecessarily” with just three days’ notice.
She added: “This is why I have chosen to resurrect the company myself, at great personal expense, and take control of the operations.” Ms Mills lashed out at “corporate greed and poor management” when the business collapsed in December, while also criticising celebrity campaigns promoting dairy products and the meat industry.
She said: “Many of the campaigns we are seeing such as the ‘Got milk’ campaign by the dairy industry, joking about plant milk, insulting lactose intolerant people as well as ethical environmental animal lovers, are well-funded gaslighting initiatives that detract from the facts and sow the seeds of doubt in consumers who deserve to know the truth.”
‘Many of the campaigns we are seeing are well-funded gaslighting initiatives that detract from the facts’