Where now for Aquila Truck Centres as it gets more funding from outside

When news broke that Aquila Truck Centres were in trouble it came as a bit of a shock. After all, Aquila had been very prominent in recent times. Last year Commercial Motor reported it had struck a deal with Vertu Motors to acquire the lveco dealer Bristol Street Commercials (CM, 23 May 2013). Aquila Group MD Gary Mullaney proudly announced that the purchase was “part of our long-term growth strategy”.

Six months later and news broke that a further investment of more than £150,000 into its Gloucester site to help "dual brand the business to meet the needs of both Iveco and MAN Truck & Bus operators in the region", he explained to Commercial Motor (CM 24 October 2013).

The Aquila Group empire now consisted of six MAN dealerships across the West Midlands, which also houses the lsuzu Truck (UK) franchise, and three Main Iveco sites at Avonmouth, Gloucester and Swindon, as well as two associate parts and servicing centres at Frome and Hereford. It was already an authorised repairer for Bristol Street Commercials in Worcester when it struck the deal with Vertu Motors; a real presence and in prime territory covering West Midlands via the M5, M6 and M54.

After 11 months of consolidation Aquila Trucks reappeared in Commercial Motor (CM 18 September 2014) with newly installed dealer principal Roy Morton explaining how both Italy and Germany will share a site in Gloucester.

So far so good. Then a month later comes the bombshell: “New owner for Aquila Truck Centres saves 120 jobs”. Let’s be clear here, it was only the MAN franchise that was affected. James ‘Jim’ Smith, boss of co-MAN franchisee Steadplan, brought his money into subsidise the business, as CM later revealed.

The head office at Walsall was closed and moved to Tipton. Aquila Truck Centres was sold for more than £421,000 in an outcome administrator FRP Advisory had identified as the best option for the stricken business and its creditors.

As CM went to press this week Aquila Truck Centres announced a further deal securing a £1m invoice finance facility with Secure Trust Commercial Finance.

There were hints to where the problems lay. Smith, now MD of Aquila Truck Centres, said: “We needed to work with a funder that could help turn the business around in a matter of days after we’d been let down by another incumbent bank.

“The team at Secure Trust came up with a solution to protect the future of our company. Not only did they act as a lifeline to our business, but they managed to save a significant number of jobs in the process.”

The key word is ‘another’. Not having enough money once is unfortunate, twice looks careless. Hard cold cash followed by invoice factoring. The future is saved but Aquila remains in dense woodland. So, what solutions are available open to the new boss?

My guess is an internal restructure with some bloodletting followed by belt tightening and hard graft.