The Soft Drinks Company has informed former SOS Wholesale staff they will not be offered jobs despite an earlier promise to do so, The Grocer understands.
SOS Wholesale – which supplied consumer goods to convenience, discount, independent, major multiple and garden centre retailers in the UK and Ireland – went into administration and ceased trading last month.
The majority of its 100 employees were made redundant, but promises were made to offer new jobs at its sister company, The Soft Drinks Company (TSDC), to every member of the SOS sales and telesales teams. It came after SOS Wholesale MD Vipin Patara moved to TSDC as MD.
But in an email seen by The Grocer, TSDC this week informed former SOS staff of a u-turn on the plan to hire them.
“When we first spoke with you, our intention was for you to become part of TSDC,” it said. “We made those commitments in good faith, believing that as SOS Wholesale Ltd had gone into administration, we would be able to offer you new employment with The Soft Drink Company Ltd, providing you all with new employment and familiarity in the processes.
“Unfortunately, circumstances outside of our control have since escalated. Following damaging press coverage and hostile social media activity we have taken the difficult decision not to offer employment to any former SOS Wholesale employees at the current time.
“We want to stress that this decision is in no way a reflection on you or the excellent support you have provided so far.”
The email added that the decision had “not been taken lightly”, that hours worked would be paid for and that the former SOS workers would be contacted about any future vacancies, which would also be advertised in the usual way.
SOS founder and former MD Mark Beckett used Linkedin following its collapse in September to slam owner RDCP Group, claiming it had not upheld the “family values” he had instilled in the wholesale business before he sold it to the investment firm in 2021.
RDCP acquired TSDC in September 2023.
A revival of SOS Wholesale
In a new LinkedIn post this week, Beckett announced that Acton-based fmcg wholesaler Dairyfresh had acquired the SOS Wholesale IP rights in what he described as “the revival of SOS Wholesale”.
Dairyfresh has also rehired seven former SOS sales and warehouse staff with “more to follow”, according to Beckett.
He added that Dairyfresh had started to re-establish the wholesaler’s Barnsley sales office and started to reconnect with former customers and suppliers.
Dairyfresh director Karamat Hussain told The Grocer: “As Dairyfresh Ltd acquires the intellectual property of SOS Wholesale, we do so with deep respect for the legacy we inherit and a clear vision for the future we intend to build.
“This acquisition is more than a transaction. It is a commitment to continuity, to honouring the entrepreneurial spirit that defined SOS, and to ensuring that its values – responsiveness, reliability and regional relevance – remain alive in the market. We are proud to steward that legacy forward.”
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