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Receiver is called in to sell Martintrux
Page 6
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• Two companies within the Martintrux group are in the hands of receivers and are looking for buyers.
Martintrux and Martintrux Felixstowe went into receivership at the end of August. They are trading as before, but under the control of Philip Monjack of Leonard Curtis. A third company, Martintrux Whytecliffs of Dover, trading as Martintrux Dover, is unaffected.
Martintrux is an international road haulier with 100 trailers and 22 tractor units. It operates exclusively to the Continent, running express services for forwarding agents.
Martintrux Felixstowe is a customs clearance operation in the port of Felixstowe which clears goods for mainly European hauliers or forwarders using the port.
Martintrux has also, during the past 10 years, booked ferry space on cross-channel ferries for other hauliers. That part of the operation, which represented 50% of the company's business, has now ceased because the receiver felt it wasn't worth continuing as a trading operation.
Deputy chairman Nigel Hilliard says the reduced profitability of the ferry-broking side was the major reason for the company's problems. "The margin between what we can buy ferry bookings for and then sell them has reduced dramatically," he explains.
But the loss of profitability on the haulage side had also been significant, according to Hilliard. "The increase in permit allocation has led to intense competition," he says.
A statement of the companies' financial affairs will be published next week.