Government's showcase haulier in financial crisis
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• by Sally Nash
Brian Yeardley Continental, the haulier held up by the Government as evidence that UK operators have low costs compared with Continental firms, is in dire financial straits with debts of around £4.5m.
The company has called on accoun. tants Ernst & Young to come up with a rescue package which should give it three years to pay off its debts and get back into profitability.
Ernst & Young cites the Governments policies on VED and fuel duty as contributory factors to Yeardley's difficulties. An increase in tolls following the Mont Blanc tunnel fire and a general slowing down of trade over the past few months are also said to have played a part.
In addition to cashf low pressures, the company's bankers "got a bit nervous and reduced its facilities", says Hunter Kelly at Ernst &, Young. ''The company approached us for advice and we have implemented some cost-cutting measures to return it to profitability," he explains. The restructuring includes cutting the fleet by about 20 of its 100 vehicles.
Kelly stresses that all the creditors, such as the fuel companies, seem supportive of the proposals. They recognise the difficulties that the sector faces and think that it is better to keep the business going," he says.
A creditors' meeting is scheduled for 17 August but Kelly is optimistic. The business has got a future," he insists.
Brian Yeardley himself wants to reassure customers and suppliers that he is still in business. "People keep ringing up to say 'have you gone bust?' I want to tell people that I am not in receivership. I'm still here,' he says.
Trans-Action organiser Frank Steam was stunned by the news: 'This should make people sit up and think. This is somebody with a lot of vehicles on foreign tax and even he can't make it pay. How can they expect a small haulier to
cope? We said from day one it would hit the big ones eventually,' Brian Yeardley was highlighted in a report by accountants KPMG and used by the Government to argue that UK hauliers have low operating costs compared with their Continental rivals.