Tea drinkers distraught as one of UK’s major brands teeters on edge of collapse

Over 100 jobs could be at risk

After the 120 year-old firm saw sales slump and losses surge, Typhoo Tea filed a court notice to appoint administrators, raising fears for its 100 workers.

Typhoo's chief executive Dave McNulty told the BBC that the move would 'afford the company some breathing space to explore solutions'.

Its difficulties have been attributed to the rapid growth in people drinking coffee instead of tea as well as rising costs since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Typhoo's latest company filings showed losses in the year to last September ballooned from £8.4million to almost £38million while its sales fell by a quarter to £25.3million. It had 116 employees as of late 2023.

In August of last year, Typhoo suffered a further blow when trespassers broke into the company's former factory in Merseyside and occupied it for several days.

Typhoo said at the time that they had caused 'extensive damage' and made the site 'inaccessible'.

The company had been trying to sell the factory, in a deal which eventually went through in June this year.

However, Typhoo said the incident made up the bulk of £24 million of exceptional costs that year, and that it had “materially” affected its day-to-day running.

Typhoo was founded in 1903 and is one of Britain's best-known tea brands.

Adverts from the 1980s starring Su Pollard of Hi-de-Hi! fame and TV presenter and singer Cilla Black included the famous slogan “You only get an OO with Typhoo”.

A private equity firm, Zetland Capital, has been its majority shareholder since 2021.

It hired the former head of Burts crisps, Dave McNulty, as its new chief executive in October, while also launching a shake-up of its supply chain.

The overhaul was intended to stop sexual violence against women working on tea plantations in east Africa, and resulted in reducing the number of plantations in its supply chain in the region from 300 to just three.