David Pink, the former MD of 21st Century Logistics, which traded as Dodd’s Group, tried to buy the haulier before it entered administration on Friday (26 August) but had his attempt thwarted.
Pink parted company with the business in June, after it was sold to Swedish businessman Fredrick Helander on 21 April. He became director at 21st Century Logistics on 20 May.
Helander, is also the director of Millmax Ventures which was incorporated in the UK in March and shares the same registered office as Dodd’s.
Pink tells Roadtransport.com that on Thursday 25 August he made an offer to Isreali bank Leumi – which had financed the purchase of 21st Century Logistics by Helander and Millmax – to stabilise the company’s financial position through £100,000 worth of funding.
According to Pink, Helander had sought alternative banking arrangements but Pink insisted his offer was still on the table: ”I did not want the company back, my only concern was the 95 staff involved and the suppliers,” he says.
However, on Friday morning administrators MCR contacted Pink, explaining that Paul Williams and Jason Godefroy, partners at MCR, were appointed joint administrators. Pink asked for the decision to be reversed as his offer to meet financial covenants with bankers Leumi was still available.
In a statement, MCR says Dodd's had been suffering from “a lack of working capital as a result of severe cashflow problems heightened by the current economic climate”.
It adds that they had “no choice but to wind down operations with immediate effect and actively market such assets as are available to maximise a return for creditors”.
Pink insists this was not the case as the company had more than enough cash to draw down the wage bill.
Both Helander and Leumi were unavailable for comment.
See Motor Transport 5 September for more on this story.
