Historic Chipping firm given £1 million TV lifeline offer (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Historic Chipping firm given £1 million TV lifeline offer

2:33pm Wednesday 8th July 2009 in

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AN HISTORIC East Lancashire firm could be handed a £1million cheque on a reality TV show tonight.

Chair maker H J Berry and Sons, based in Chipping, were forced into three-day working weeks at the end of last year due to a drop in orders.

But the company, based in the village since 1840, is set to be the first firm rescued on a new Channel 4 series, Gerry’s Big Decision.

Brian White, managing director at H J Berry, said no decision had yet been made on the offer.

“The two facts are that there is a £1million offer in return for 60 per cent,” he said.

“I now need to have discussions with Sir Gerry and with other people at H J Berry and see how we move forward from here.

“There are still points that need to be finalised with Sir Gerry as to how the company will develop from his offer.

“But we are delighted with the offer and it shows what we know all along, that we are a good company that is worth investing in.

“We might have had a difficult time recently, but that is no different to any other firm in the UK during the credit crunch.”

In the show, similar to the BBC’s Dragon’s Den show, celebrity multi-millionaire Sir Gerry Robinson, a former chief executive of Granada, visits businesses hit by the credit crunch and decides whether to invest in them or not.

Family firm H J Berry owns parts of the village around its Kirk Mills site, where many of its 85 employees live.

Fifth generation owner Andrew Berry reveals in the show that the firm is facing ruin with sales declining.

After looking round the business, Sir Gerry said: “I am totally torn, my heart is saying one thing and my head is saying another. The things about Berry’s in particular is it is not just a business it is a whole village and the employment in the village. I am finding it tough.”

Sir Gerry eventually agrees to invest £1million in the firm, in return for a 60 per cent stake. In response, Andrew Berry said: “Years and years we have been going down and down and I feel we could be going up and up now.”

l Gerry’s Big Decision is on Channel 4 tonight at 9pm.