FishWorks shares suspended from trading

A fish chain founded in Bath suspended its shares from trading on the stock market yesterday as it tried to clarify its financial position with its bank.

FishWorks, which still has a restaurant in Green Street, is believed to be trying to find a buyer or seeking additional cash to stay afloat.

The blow comes just a month after FishWorks revealed pre-tax losses had swelled to £5.5 million last year from £1.6 million the year before, as a small increase in sales had not covered the huge costs of opening new outlets.

A one-line statement to the London Stock Exchange, where it trades on the AIM segment for smaller companies, read: "At the request of the company, trading of its shares on AIM has been temporarily suspended pending clarification of the company's financial position."

A spokesman for FishWorks added that the company is currently in talks with its bank, HSBC, to look at its strategic options and will report back to the market as soon as possible.

The company, which employs 220 people, emphasised that it was still very much open for business as usual – the suspension only applies to its shares on the stock market. It is still making its orders with suppliers and its network of restaurants, cafes, fishmongers and cookery schools are trading as normal.

FishWorks has grown rapidly since founder Mitch Tonks, who has since become a celebrity chef, opened its original fishmonger-cum-cafe in Bath a little over a decade ago.

While the company's head office has now moved to London where it does most of its business, the Bath original is still going strong.

But recent expansion, including a 100-seat flagship restaurant in London's Singer Street in 2007, came just as the consumer bubble has burst.

The company was experiencing growing pains even before the credit crisis and its impact on consumer spending, with a sizeable loss in 2006.

As a result it revamped menus and staff training, and put a new team structure in place. New backers arrived in the form of current chairman Gary Ashworth, who took over as Mitch Tonks stepped down, and Luke Johnson who revived Pizza Express and was head of Channel 4.

Last year the overhaul of the group continued as FishWorks sold subsidiary Channel Fisheries.

The company would not comment in detail on its current financial difficulties or its future prospects yesterday, but when it unveiled its annual results in December, Mr Ashworth was realistic about the challenges facing the company, saying: "The current turmoil in the global economy makes forecasting very difficult at present.

"Uncertainty in the market and a lack of visibility means that the focus has been on ensuring consistent delivery of product, keeping retail prices competitive and closely controlling all costs and margins within the business."