Nothing to Carry "says LA — so No Grant
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AN application by a Great Yarmouth firm to transport coloured supplements to local provincial newspapers throughout the country was refused by the Eastern deputy Licensing Authority on Tuesday.
The application was made by Superior International Ltd., described as fruit, vegetable and general cargo importers. The company asked for A licences for 10 artics.
On behalf of the applicants, Mr. R. Miller said the supplements were to be printed in Italy. They would be published by Tins WEEK Publications Ltd., who had asked Ship Entry Ltd. (a company with common directors) to arrange for their transportation from the Continent.
The supplements would be shipped from Rotterdam to Yarmouth, where it was planned that Superior International should be responsible for their transportation to various centres.
Objectors to the application were British Road Services, British Railways and five local haulage firms.
Dismissing the application, the deputy LA, Mr. John Gazdar, said it seemed the more straightforward way in which Tins WEEK Publications could have the supplements taken from Yarmouth to various parts of the country would have been by entry into a contract licence. But they had not done this. The application might have been confined to the carriage of newsprint or magazines for Ship Entry Ltd., but the word " goods " had been used and that covered a lot.
"One therefore has to consider why that word has been used. The only possible explanation that comes to my mind is that Superior International wish to carry goods other than newsprint. Apparently they are prepared to go into whisky, spare parts and other things."
Mr. Gazdar pointed out that the contract between This WEEK Publications and the Italian printing firm was entered into on April 9 and already the suspension clause had been invoked.
Clearly it had been invoked because so far THIS WEEK Publications had only been able to enter into firm contract with newspapers for 326,000 copies of the weekly supplement. It was perfectly clear from the terms of the contract that this would not be sufficient to make the project pay.
Mr. Burke (a director of THIS WEEK Publications and Ship Entry) said that unless they obtained firm contracts for at least 14-m. copies then the project would not succeed.
Mr. Gazdar concluded: "I am quite satisfied that at the present time they are not persons who require transport. They have got nothing to carry."