The sad demise of Kent butchery chain JC Rook and Sons has been blamed on a fall in trade throughout the Covid lockdowns, administrators have revealed.

It has also been confirmed that the majority of the firm’s 155 staff have been made redundant following the decision to close its 11 Kent shops yesterday.

Neil Gostelow and Will Wright, from Interpath Advisory, have been appointed joint administrators.

Today they have released a statement shedding light on the reasons for Rooks’ decision to pursue insolvency, with the effect of pandemic restrictions said to have been the major factor.

They said: “The company suffered trading losses in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, primarily due to constraints from lockdown closures which were then exacerbated further through the Omicron variant in late 2021, during what would be their peak season in the run up to Christmas.

“The directors concluded that with the deteriorating trading position, the company would need to go through an insolvency process.”

JC Rook and Sons was founded by Joseph Rook in 1965, with his first shop opening in Dover, followed by many other branches across Kent.

At the weekend it had customers through its doors at shops in Broadstairs, Deal, Dover, Folkestone, Gillingham, Herne Bay, Hythe, Maidstone, Southfleet, Ramsgate and Sittingbourne.

But none of them opened yesterday morning.

Following legal advice, the directors of Rooks decided to close all of the shops, as well as a production and distribution facility in Ramsgate and a food service facility in Shoreham.

The decision means “the majority” of the company’s 155 employees have been made redundant, with a small number retained to help throughout the administration process.

Mr Gostelow, the managing director at Interpath, said: “JC Rook and Sons was a well-established and well-respected family business that had been operating across Kent for over 50 years.

“Sadly, the impact of the pandemic on trading meant that the directors had to take the difficult decision to place the company into administration.

“Our immediate priority is to assist those members of staff who have been made redundant, providing them with the information they need to be able to make claims from the Redundancy Payments Office.”

Following Rooks' demise, others in the industry have spoken of the challenges they face, including a shift in shopping habits and a struggle to draw in younger generations.