1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172 
New company registered after asset sale
Page 7
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
B y Chris Tindatt THE MAN BEHIND the purchase of what remained of United Trailers (UK) after its closure last month (Uniter1Trailers (UK) collapses', CM 9 October) says he wants its suppliers and creditors to work with him.
Lee Skinner tells CM he has bought the assets, including its Cambridgeshire factory, machinery and "minimal" stock — but no liabilities — from Grant Thornton, from whom Ian Carr and John Whitfield were appointed as joint administrators on 3 November. Skinner has incorporated a new firm at Companies House, called United Trailers Wisbech in order to start trading.
He describes himself as an investor that "buys companies that have gone into distress-.
An inspection of the 29 companies he is listed as having been director of reveals that 24 have now been dissolved, two have been liquidated, one has a proposal for being struck off and two remain active.
Skinner says the trailer-maker
employed a skilled workforce but -was massively over-leveraged in terms of borrowings".
He claims he now wants to start giving people their jobs back, but he will neither confirm nor deny if he will employ United Trailers (UK) directors Kevin Pell and Kevin Wales. The staff at United Trailers (UK) were made redundant on 3 October.
The news comes as Fruehauf chairman Duncan Wordsworth reveals it has bought the designs and copyright for all the products formerly made by United Trailers (UK) from Grant Thornton.
Skinner says he met with Fruehauf's MD and talks of "crossfertilisation". But Wordsworth says: "if United Trailers Wisbech breaches our copyright, then we'll sue."