A shocked community is still coming to terms with the loss of pork pie producer Vale of Mowbray after administrators were brought in.

The collapse of the company, which produced 1.5million pork pies a week, came just months after a major £4m expansion introducing a new line with scotch eggs.

Last week 171 workers were made redundant with the remaining 50 kept on to oversee the winding down of the factory site at Leeming Bar, near Bedale. Administrators urgently appealed for any interested parties to come forward and said they are working towards an asset sale of the two manufacturing sites.

In a statement to the D&S Times, Aiskew and Leeming Bar Parish Council said: “The council is very sorry that people have lost their employment, and the impact of losing this employer in the area will have long-reaching effects.”

Hambleton District councillor John Noone said: “I worked on the van sales in the 1970s and over the years there have been so many local people employed by VOM. It’s a very sad time indeed for our area and especially for everyone who has lost their livelihoods. Vale of Mowbray has been a huge part of so many people’s lives around here. I for one can’t imagine this area without our old friend the VOM.”

A former employee, who asked not to be named, said: “It’s been a real shock for everyone, they were a main employer for a long time, but maybe they tried to do too much, it is extremely sad.”

The administrators said the business, which was opened as a brewery in 1795, with pork pie production beginning in the 1920s, has experienced “significant financial challenges” in recent years due to rising raw material prices, increasing energy costs and sector-wide recruitment challenges.

It is a major blow for the company following the pandemic, when they weathered the storm and increased turnover. A financial statement for the firm filed with Companies House in April 2021 reported turnover of £24m over the previous year.

An accompanying statement signed by Mark Gatenby said: “There has been a remarkable turnaround in performance in what has been for everyone a challenging year. Indeed we have moved to an operating profit of £0.3m in the current year, from an operating loss in the previous year. Turnover increased by 4.8 per cent.

“Although sales volumes for the first two weeks of the year were down as the population adjusted to national Covid-19 measures sales went on to increase week by week until September 2020. The overall sales increase has therefore been driven by higher volumes of existing customers. Sales were also marginally ahead of budget during the all important Christmas period.

“With regards to the new financial year we are making good progress to date with new products and projects. We have in place a new management team and we have a firm and clear roadmap to grow the business to build brand equity, this will further strengthen our position as the UK’s number one pork pie brand by retail sales value.”