Business leaders have blamed the Brexit vote for the collapse of a salad packing company at a cost of 260 jobs – and denied its closure was down to management failures.

Administrators for Southern Salads in Tonbridge, which supplied fresh salads to supermarkets, said the sudden decline of the value of the pound after the EU referendum placed “unprecedented pressure on cashflow” and forced it to cease trading.

The value of sterling has plummeted by about 14% since the vote to leave the EU in June 2016, increasing costs for companies which import goods.

It comes as the rural sector in Kent faces up to an array of challenges, including an unwillingness to invest because of Brexit, fears over future access to labour and a tough harvest for many arable farmers.

Ian Vickers, a partner at FRP Advisory and joint administrator for Southern Salads, said the firm had been left “grappling with an immediate fall of between 10% and 20% in its purchasing power for overseas-grown salads”.

After unsuccessful attempts to negotiate prices with its European suppliers, it was “unable to pass on its cost increases to supermarkets and its other customers”.

Many who shunned the Brexit argument left comments on KentOnline blaming the company’s collapse on its decision to invest heavily in 2014 to expand its production capacity.

Ralph Spicer, a coach driver in Dover, said: “How can any company blame Brexit at the moment? It’s not happened yet.”

He said that following its investment in 2014, the company “attempted to expand in the market and took a risk that failed”.

He said: “That, unfortunately, is business.”

Southern Salads’ latest available accounts show an expected increase in turnover from the 2014 investment never materialised, dropping 3% to £28.8 million in the year to March 2016.

The family-run company, which produced over 50 tonnes of salad per day, made pre-tax losses of £201,000, although this was an improvement of about 40%.

Since then, annual revenues topped £30 million, according to administrators, but bosses contacted FRP Advisory in the summer to try to restructure the business and seek new investment.

It went into administration when these talks collapsed.

Andrew Metcalf, a businessman in Tunbridge Wells who is chairman of Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce’s West Kent Economic Development Group, said: “Southern Salads did invest in its processing and still couldn’t compete – but please don’t immediately run to knock management – the answer is probably more to do with the pound’s fall.

“Ask yourself – if your mortgage rate and household costs went up by 14% how long could you keep a roof over your head?”

Mr Metcalf, who is also a member of the Kent and Medway Economic Partnership, added: “The UK is a net-importer of food and that means that costs to food processors, like Southern Salads, have risen dramatically.

“Inflation has risen, but most food manufacturers have not been able to pass on the increase to consumers via the big supermarkets, leaving producers more vulnerable to exchange rate changes.”

Business consultant Nicola Gunn said: “They had Brexit, the rise of the minimum wage and they took on debt with the new investment in 2014.

"Inflation has risen, but most food manufacturers have not been able to pass on the increase to consumers via the big supermarkets, leaving producers more vulnerable to exchange rate changes..." - Andrew Metcalf, Kent Invicta Chamber

“They have taken on debt in a business with tight margins and then seen a fall in exchange rates beyond anything they would have tested for.

“You can prepare for a wobble of 5%, but 20% to 30% is too much. All the things converged.”

Southern Salads was founded by its chief executive Ray Boakes, a man who had spent his entire career in produce.

He began working in the London markets, where he saw the opportunity to sell shredded iceberg lettuce to McDonalds.

He made them an offer in 1986 and Southern Salads was soon supplying all the fast-food giant’s south coast stores.

Three generations of his family worked in the business, including managing director Andrew Boakes.

The company moved to its site in Tonbridge in 1996 and recently invested in a new distribution centre and “high care facility” for its deli salads.

It supplied more than 200 lines of mainly leaf produce including shredded lettuce, sliced mushrooms, dry slaws and diced vegetables.