WELLINGTON firm Pritex, which is up for sale, says there has ‘been a lot of interest’ in buying the company, which has a workforce of 242.

The WWN revealed exclusively in August that the firm, which is the sister company of Relyon and is based at Station Road, was seeking a buyer.

At the time, Alan Chapman, managing director of Steinhoff UK Manufacturing Group, which owns both companies, assured the workforce the company had a ‘long future’.

He said yesterday: “We’re looking into the process of selling the company. There is a lot to be done before we can market the business.

“We have had a lot of interest but we cannot say at this stage whether it is genuine or not.”

Mr Chapman added that a sale would only go ahead if a potential buyer could give ‘best value’ for the business. He also ruled out any possible sale before Christmas.

Pritex and Relyon were caught up in an accounting scandal at South African parent company Steinhoff International at the end of last year. It resulted in Pepkor Europe, owned by Steinhoff, arranging a two-year £180 million loan which allowed planned investment into the manufacturing and retail side of its businesses to be maintained.

The South African parent is facing criminal and tax investigations relating to an estimated £5.3 billion hole in its accounts.