Hardstaff Haulage owed creditors almost £2m when it went into administration, following consecutive years of losses, earlier this year.
The company, which as well as providing haulage incorporated natural gas supply division Portal Gas Services and concrete barrier business Hardstaff Traffic Barriers, received a £1m cash injection intended to help save it shortly before the administrator was appointed on 6 February.
But a review of the company’s 2015 business plan concluded that the loan “would not be sufficient to support all three entities in the group”.
Administrator KPMG’s statement of proposals report said a combination of historical losses and the development of its own dual fuel brand, OIGI, over the last few years resulted in cash flow issues in December 2014.
As at 26 March, Hardstaff owed £1.9m to trade creditors, with major creditors including Martyn Barratt Transport, which was owed £271,438; Contract Natural Gas, owed £171,483; and Bates & Hunt Petroleum, owed £138,991.
Following the administrator’s appointment in February, two key haulage customers were approached to determine whether to continue to trade the business while it was marketed for sale. However, they were not willing to fund it through administration and planned to switch to another haulage provider. The business ceased to trade on 6 February with 135 redundancies.
The administrator raised £180,000 from the sale of some of its vehicles to a customer. Out of the remaining 320 vehicles, 215 were subject to finance, hire purchase and lease agreements, while the rest were sold at auction.
Portal Gas Services, which continued to trade through administration, was last month bought by Flogas Britain for £630,000.
Shares in Hardstaff Haulage’s traffic barrier arm were sold to Safety and Security Barrier Holdings for a consideration of £100.
Hardstaff was placed in administration alongside sister firm Charnwood Truck Services.
