LA grants haulier role swap with wife
Page 25
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Husband and wife exchanged roles when Susan Smith, trading as SES Services, of Crawley, was granted a new licence authorising the operation of two vehicles and one trailer. South Eastern and Metropolitan LA Brigadier Michael Turner was told that before July, Mrs Smith's husband Barry had been the licence holder and she had acted as his accountant and had looked after the administration. Under the new arrangement, Mr Smith would be the nominated transport manager. The work largely involved the carriage of parcels and the movement of office furniture. The recession had bitten deeply into the business and the fleet was reduced to one vehicle. Payments of income tax had slipped until the stage was reached when the interest levied by the Inland Revenue was nearly twice tine tax owed. Mr Smith had no alternative but to put the business into voluntary liquidation last July. The one vehicle would be driven by Mr Smith and it would be maintained every six weeks by a commercial garage. Turner granted the licence but said he did not normally do so when husband and wife changed functions, as it was often a device to get round the revocation or curtailment of a licence. SES had a very good record in relation to its operations since at least 1981. Sufficient fresh capital had been introduced by Mrs Smith to satisfy him that the firm was of appropriate financial standing.