Competition is too much for major player Nippress
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• by Dominic Perry Major UK and Continental haulier Nippress Continental, which operates 800 trailers, has called in the receivers blaming overcapacity in the marketplace.
Nippress is a major player in crossChannel dry goods and temperaturecontrolled distribution working out of Hull and Felixstowe in the UK, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Zeebrugge in Belgium and Neuss in Germany. The group's temperature-controlled arm Nippress Coldstorage, based in Hull, and its freight forwarding firm, Nippress Forwarding, have also gone into administration.
Receiver Arthur Anderson was called in on Monday; a spokeswoman says: "The reasons for the insolvency procedures are over-capacity and intense competition in the marketplace. The strong pound hasn't helped and export restrictions because of the foot-and-mouth crisis have all added to the problems."
She adds that is too early to give the size of the firm's debts or to say if creditors will receive payment. KO North Sea Ferries has confirmed that it is among Nippress's creditors. The firm is also thought to be a customer of Eurotunnel and other ferry operators.
It is unclear how many UK subcontractors will be affected by the receivership, but the number is expected to be high as the firm owns a fleet of 800 trailers but only runs 80 tractors, accounting for 400 cross-channel movements every 24 hours.
One subbie working for Nippress says: "At the moment we don't know what's going on—we can't get answers from them."
Former Nippress subcontractor Andrew Bierton of Andrew M Bierton Haulage was surprised by the receivership: "I moved away from that sort of work a while ago, but I thought that they were one of the big players in the game."
Graham Eames, vice-president of
Transfrigoroute International, suggests Nippress's problems may be the result of taking work at very low prices. "There's just no way back from it."
Nippress Forwarding was founded in 1974 by brothers Peter and Barry Nippress. It was later bought by Hogg Robinson before a management buyout in 1997 formed Nippress Continental. The firm warned of financial difficulties as far back as 1999 when it considered using Belgian subcontractors in a bid to beat high UK diesel costs. Its accounts show that pre-tax profits fell by almost £825,000 in the year ending March 1999.