Sara Lee's new owners have been handed the keys

The new owners of dessert maker Sara Lee, have been handed the keys to its Central Coast factory, after the sale of the business was finalised.

Transcript

00:00 It's business as usual at Sarah Lee's Lizzaro factory as new owners Clark and Brook Quinn

00:07 have their first day on the job.

00:09 It's been a bit of a process and I'm really glad that that part of the process is behind

00:14 us and now we can start getting into the business.

00:17 The brand, which has a long history in Australia, went into voluntary administration last October.

00:23 The company owed creditors more than $50 million.

00:26 It resulted in a competitive sale process with around 60 interested buyers.

00:31 The deal has secured the future of Sarah Lee's 200 strong workforce, most of whom are Central

00:37 Coast locals.

00:38 A lot of these guys have been here for 40 plus years so really there's a lot of passion

00:44 here.

00:45 We're in a limbo not knowing whether we're going to have a job or not so it did put a

00:49 lot of stress on a lot of us with families and mortgages and everything else like that.

00:53 A lot of her are anxious because of what's happened at the site but they're guardedly

01:00 optimistic.

01:01 The Quinn family bought another famous brand, Darrellee, in 2012 but later sold it.

01:07 When it comes to Sarah Lee, they say they're in it for the long haul.

01:11 Despite the sale, more than $9 million in company debt won't be repaid to unsecured

01:16 creditors, many of whom are small businesses here on the Central Coast.

01:20 I totally sympathise with all those suppliers and the best thing we can do is continue on

01:26 with being in business here in Leeds and supporting the local community.

01:30 The Quinn family will now look at the company's business model and work to secure its future.

01:35 [BLANK_AUDIO]