Davison takes on staff
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• Indexagent, the firm which has risen out of the ashes of the John Dee Group (CM 1420 March), is taking on staff based at JDG's Ferryhill and Coundon depots with kitchen furniture maker Magnet Joinery as its major contract. But 500 JDG employees have lost their jobs.
The new company is run by JDG's former chairman John Davison who, according to the receiver Cork Gully, has bought "different bits of different companies" within the group. As well as Magnet, the operation has some smaller contracts and will handle general haulage.
Backing Indexagent is Cammac Coal of Chesterfield, a coal processing operation which also runs some trucks. According to joint managing director John Camm: "We have decided to back John Davison because he is an old friend and because lndexagent is a good investment," Camm declined to say how much money his company is investing but stresses that Indexagent will not run an op eration from Chesterfield.
As reported in CM last week, Davison has applied to the North East Licensing Authority for an Operator's Licence in the name of Inde
xagent. An advert in the Northern Echo states that Indexagent proposes to change its name to John Dee.
The company plans to run 77 vehicles and 120 trailers from JDG's Ferryhill depot and 34 vehicles and 120 trailers from Magnet Joinery's depot at Darlington. Both sites are in County Durham.
Davison has remained chairman of JDG throughout its receivership and was described by a source close to the company as "absolutely shattered by its collapse — the fact that small hauliers relying on JDG went under affected him considerably". The source says Davison has "rescued JDG's northern operation".
But a furious northern operator says: "A hell of a lot of genuine lads in the North-East running small haulage operations have gone down because John Dee didn't pay them."
The collapse has cost "in the order of 500 JDG people their jobs", says Cork Gully, which adds that there are no "further buyers in the pipeline" for other parts of the business. The receiver confirms that debts include LIOm to two finance companies.
A meeting of JDG creditors is set for 10.30hrs on 27 March at the King's Head Hotel in Darlington. All claims need to reach Cork Gully by noon the previous day.