When the wheels fall off...
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Licence revoked, winding up order, strike off proposal: CM examines the recent life and times of Derbyshire haulier Sisson & French
Words: Chris Tindall
WHEN TWO WHEELS fell off a Sisson & French (S&F) lorry travelling on the M1 in August 2010, it heralded the beginning of a host of problems culminating in the revocation of its licence last month. The incident – which thankfully did not result in an accident – led to a court appearance for the driver in January this year, but representatives of the company did not attend the hearing.
By then, ownership of the Ilkeston haulage business had twice changed hands from its original owners, Robert Sisson and Martin French, and it was on the verge of appointing another MD, Thomas Armstrong.
In its directors’ absence, the irm was ined £3,750 for using a vehicle likely to cause injury, and driver Daniel Berridge received a £200 ine, a bill for costs of £35 and three penalty points.
No comment at the time
Earlier this year, VOSA oficers submitted a case, which did not include the M1 incident, to the North-West trafic commissioner (TC), and its contents led to the company being called to a public inquiry (PI) in July. This time MD Armstrong appeared before TC Beverley Bell, who revoked the irm’s licence with immediate effect. Armstrong has declined CM’s offer to comment on the revocation on three occasions.
CM was not present at the PI, but it is understood the revocation is in connection with offences relating to vehicle and driving prohibitions, false statements and licence undertakings not fulilled.
However, one of the irm’s original owners, Sisson, has spoken to CM, revealing links to inance company Boston & Maine. CM has previously reported on Boston & Maine’s links to several haulage company purchases in recent years (see opposite page).
Sisson says he and French sold up because they were at retirement age and struggling with health problems. He says an attempt was made to buy the irm six months earlier, involving Boston & Maine, but for unknown reasons its suitors withdrew their offer. Six months later, businessman William Ferguson came along and, after a lot of haggling, the two motor engineers agreed to sell their business in March 2010.
“Some of the guys had been there for years,” Sisson explains. “We could have made redundancies, broken the company up and sold the equipment, but we thought the best thing to do was sell.” He says the business was sold to another company, Crest Associates (the deal was inanced by Boston & Maine’s sister company Boston Commercial Finance), of which Ferguson, as well as future S&F directors Joseph Crane and Armstrong, held directorships. Crest Associates no longer exists; the irm was struck off and dissolved in June.
However, Sisson claims he is still receiving payments for his half of the business and they are up to date. He admits he is surprised at some of the decisions Ferguson made when he took control of the company, including a wholesale leet replacement strategy. He says this involved help from Lynne Walker, a businesswoman who bought Cheshire operator Pemberton Transport from the Pemberton family in November 2009. It ceased trading less than a year later.
What next for the company?
“I thought he bought it to run it, and everything he said to us was along those lines – he said he was going to invest in it,” says Sisson.
It’s not just the licence revocation that S&F has had to contend with. In April, company creditor GB Oils, trading as Bates & Hunt, presented a petition in Derby County Count to wind the business up. The case was adjourned until October, and GB Oils declines to comment on why it has taken this action.
In addition, the registrar of Companies House has proposed to strike S&F off the register. However, Armstrong appears to be ighting this. He has objected to the proposal, and the action has been suspended. When CM contacted Armstrong, he insisted S&F had not failed and was continuing to trade, although the irm does not have an O-licence.
As a spokeswoman for the North West Trafic Area explains: “Revocation is a inal sanction, it does not have a time period and equals termination of the licence issued.”
The Transport Tribunal conirms it has not received an appeal. n