Debts left hanging over failed company
Page 6
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• by Dominic Perry Creditors of a Coventry haulier which went into liquidation owing £697,000 are furious that its sister-firm has requested an additional 20 trucks on its Operator's Licence.
Veteran operator Frederick Allen went into voluntary liquidation on 9 March owing £379,000 to unsecured creditors. Barely a month later WO Goddard, run by the same husband and wife team of Bruce and Carol Undy, applied for an extra 20 vehicles on its licence. The Undys bought Frederick Allen In May 2000 and immediately loaned it £200,000 of capital from another of their firms, Fosse Motor Engineers.
According to the creditors' report, some hauliers are owed substantial sums. These include: Coventry-based S Brown and Sons (133,312); South Wales-based Gerry Jones (£22101); Darlington-based George Allinson (£5,352); and County Durham-based Gallacher Bros (£3,830).
Ian Rose from liquidator Poppleton and Appleby says that creditors should expect no more than 10p in the pound: 'The preferential creditors should get paid in full and there will be a small dividend left over [for the others]."
Creditor Cohn Brown, who runs two vehicles, says: "It could be the end for us, although we are trying our hardest to earn some cash." Gerry Jones says: "To say the least I'm a little bit gutted. Nobody likes to take any kind of loss, but this is a particularly bitter pill Oven that we are owed money for subcontracting work on a contract we tendered for anyway."
Asked about Goddard's application, Undy said: "It doesn't mean to say that we have an extra 20 vehicles—it's difficult enough getting an Operator's Licence as it is, so you apply for as many as you can get." But the liquidator says Goddard plans to buy the remainder of Allen's fleet. He adds that the firm is servicing one of Allen's contracts "out of goodwill" and is negotiating to buy it.
Allen's demise was blamed on the current financial climate and foreign competition.