Trailer firm Fruehauf enters administration
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COVER STORY
chrstoptier.waltonfrbicn kik WORDSWORTH HOLDINGS and all eight of its subsidiaries including tipper trailer-maker Fruehauf have gone into administration.
Richard Doar, of Deloitte & lbuche, was appointed as the administrator of the Grantham, Lincs-based firm late on Thursday Ii March and is now looking at what opportunities are available for all divisions including Fruehauf to remain trading.
A spokeswoman for Deloitte insists it is "far too early to give any guidance" on what these opportunities may be In a statement, chairman Duncan Wordsworth says that the scale of the recession had been "unprecedented', with the company's turnover shrinking from 175m in 2007 to 125m last year. He admitted that orders for products had "virtually stopped".
He adds: We are bitterly disappointed that having survived for two years of the recession, we appear to have failed at the final hurdle. It's impossible to make a
cake without flour and you cannot run a business without orders" Appointing administrators at Wordsworth, which purchased Fruehauf back in 2005, concludes a week of uncertainty for the firm.
Several customers of Fruehauf have contacted CM to say they were told by its employees, before the administration was confirmed, they could not deal with quality control issues because administrators were to he appointed.
Mark Ward, of North-East tipper operator DH Pearson, was concerned over Fruehauf's failure to address problems with a respray of several trailers He is uncertain about the future of his purchases. One supplier to Fruehauf who wishes to remain anonymous, insists the administration will leave him with debts running into hundreds of thousands of pounds: "We have got a lot of money involved in this, and it will riot turn out alright."
David Taylor, of dealer DO Taylor Commercial Vehicles, adds: "I am not mad, I am sad [about the administration. I have sold their trailers since the 1970s."
Fruehauf recently survived a winding-up petition from HM Revenue & Customs, issued on 30 July. The petition was dismissed on 14 October 2009 after a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice.