AIM-listed bulk tipper operator Hargreaves Transport Services has purchased the trade and assets of cash-strapped Clitheroe haulier Barnes & Tipping (B&T), bringing to an end two months of uncertainty for the Lancashire firm.
B&T collapsed into administration at the start of March following an ill-fated buy-out by Northern Irish haulier Kevin Tinnelly. B&T effectively loaned another company, Regal (GB), £2.6m leaving it with few assets save for vehicles and "a substantial interest-bearing debt".
However, administrators SF Plant were able to keep the business running and have now completed a sale to Hargreaves for an undisclosed sum.
All thirty of B&T's staff, including former owner John Wood and transport manager Alan Holden, have transferred across to Hargreaves, MT understands.
A Hargreaves spokesman adds: "It's a very sensible and logical acquisition for Hargreaves not only because it's in a complementary business area but because of its location as well: we have not been as well-represented in that part of the country as we would have liked in the past."
He says that B&T's reputation as a "well-run family firm" prior to Tinnelly's involvement was another reason for the acquisition. He adds: "Another good thing about this is, as well as its being a strategic business decision, is that we have been able to preserve a number of jobs."
The deal is believed to have been lined up by Hargreaves' new transport MD Mark Forrest, who arrived at the turn of the year.
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