Changing
Page 41
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
ANimportantpoint in connection with the formation of subsidiary companies was involved in an appeal by Gerrard's Transport, Ltd., Swinton, which was• heard by the Appeal Tribunal, at Liverpool, last week. The company appealed against the refusal of Sir William Hart, North-Western Deputy Licensing Authority, to grant A licences for 16 vehicles and 13 trailers.
Mr. D. P. Maxwell Fyle, KC., M.P., and Mr. A, D. Gerrard, appeared for the appellant. Mr. 13. de H. Pereira appeared for the L.M.S. and L.N.E.
• Railways; Mr. V. R. Shepherd represented Norman E. Box, Ltd., and Garlick, Burrell and Edwards, Ltd.; and Mr. David Kennel appeared for the Coastwise Shipping Transport Committee.
A Subsidiary Company.
Mr. A. D. Gerrard said that the Gerrard Transport Co., Ltd., was a subsidiary company of J. Gerrard and Sons, Ltd., which had been in existence for nearly 70 years as a concern of builders and contractors. For 21 years the company had also carried on business as hauliers for builders and publicworks contractors. This part of the concern's activities was quite distinct from its ordinary business.
For some time it had been felt that the transport operations should be handled by a separate concern, and in June, 1935, a subsidiary company (the present appellant) was formed. If this subsidiary had been formed a year or two earlier, it would have operated in -the basic year and its licence would have been granted without question. The company, although formed last year, could not be regarded as a newcomer to the haulage business, as the • haulage work of the parent company, during the basic year, on behalf of outside firms, amounted to 79 per cent.
of its transport activities. He submitted that, on the basis of outside traffic carried, the appellant was morally entitled to an A licence.
60,000 Tons a Year.
The present appeal was brought on the ground that, in refusing to grant an A licence, the Licensing Authority was wrong, and that a B licence would not cover the company's requirements. The haulage business was extensive, amounting to some 60,000 tons a year.
A great deal of the haulage work was highly specialized. Much of it con