BRITAIN’S ferocious “crisp war” claimed its first big casualty yesterday with the collapse of Golden Wonder, the iconic brand behind Nik Naks, Ringos and Wheat Crunchies.

When it came to the crunch, it was Gary Lineker’s decade-long endorsement of Walkers that did for the 50-year-old crisp firm, which blamed its rival’s dominance for its demise.

Golden Wonder’s owners said that they had appointed an external administrator to try to salvage the Leicestershire- based company and protect 850 jobs. The administrators will run Golden Wonder in the interim while they try to attract buyers for the business.

But job losses appeared inevitable and it remained unclear last night whether the pension entitlements of workers at the company’s factories in Market Harborough, Corby and Scunthorpe would be safeguarded.

Adrian Wolstenholme, of administrators Kroll, said:

“Unfortunately, despite its well-known name and brands, Golden Wonder has suffered in recent years, primarily as a result of operating within a very competitive marketplace.

“The UK market is dominated by a single crisp and snack manufacturer and Golden Wonder has found it difficult to compete against this leader’s strength in the market place.”

It is thought that Walkers, which is owned by the PepsiCo drinks company, accounts for 45.5 per cent of Britain’s crisp market. It dominates smaller rivals such as Golden Wonder and the maker of McCoy’s, KP Foods, which is owned by United Biscuits. Golden Wonder’s market share is thought to be about 5 per cent.

Walkers has increasingly expanded the range of flavours it offers, prompting a sarcastic response from Golden Wonder on its website: “At Golden Wonder we don’t want to make nouvelle cuisine. We just want to make crisps. Good, honest, delicious crisps at that. After all, that’s exactly what the British public fell in love with and why they stick with us.”

But stick with Golden Wonder they haven’t.

Walkers’ flavour range, including Prawn Cocktail and Smokey Bacon, proved a hit. And the use of Lineker has also proved inspired, leading to some of the most popular television commercials in recent years.

Lineker, the former Tottenham Hotspur and England footballer, first appeared in a Walkers commercial in 1995. The company thought that it could cash in on Lineker’s nice-guy image, both on and off the football pitch, by promoting its crisps as so irresistible that even the football star would turn into a “meany” to lay his hands on a packet.

In a market that has been hit by soaring oil and gas prices pushing up production costs, and increasingly health-conscious consumers, the Walkers-Lineker pairing has proved an enduring success. The crisp maker claims that 11 million people eat its products every day.

The strain on Golden Wonder was apparent in its 2004 results, the last year for which financial details are available.

The company made a loss of £10.8 million on sales of £87.8 million. It said that the loss was significant and it also has a pension deficit. Affected workers may be able to receive some respite from the Pension Protection Fund, the Government’s pensions lifeboat.

Golden Wonder’s ownership structure was unclear last night but it is thought that Middle Eastern investors control the company.

THE RIVALS

GOLDEN WONDER

Began in 1947 when Scottish bakery owner William Alexander made crisps and called results ‘Golden Wonder’

HISTORY OF CRISPS

Newer snacks include fried corn chips, Swamp chips made from root vegetables, and Japanese- style chips produced from rice or cassava

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