ADMINISTRATORS for Countrywide Farmers has announced there will be 32 redundancies.

The Worcester News reported that the firm, which supplies products and advice to the rural community, went into administration earlier this month, when David Pike, Mark Orton and Will Wright from KPMG were appointed administrators.

The administrators have now announced the redundancies, 20 being made at the company's headquarters in Evesham, and a further 12 in Defford.

David Pike, partner at KPMG and joint administrator, said: “Our strategy remains to continue to trade to realise stock, whilst we develop and convert interest in parts of the business and packages of stores. To maximise the available trading period, we have taken steps to reduce costs and regrettably, we are unable to retain the workforce in full. We remain focused on doing all we can to preserve as many jobs as possible All affected staff have been informed and will be paid up to and including their last day of employment. We’d like to thank all employees for the support, service and co-operation, both before and during the administration. There has been a strong response from the market and we encourage any further interested parties to make contact as soon as possible.”