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6th May 2010, Page 6
6th May 2010
Page 6
Page 6, 6th May 2010 — P ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP
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RHA tests phoenix firms

roger.brownfarbi.co.uk THE ROAD HAULAGE Association is toughening its membership rules in an attempt to weed out applications from so-called phoenix companies A firm earns itself the phoenix tag when the assets of one collapsed company are moved to another legal entity prior to the administration and some, or all, of the directors remain the same. Often a similar company name is adopted.

Under its new system, the RHA will ask the director or directors of a previously insolvent haulage firm applying for membership following liquidation to explain the disposal of any assets or transfer of liabilities before an insolvency practitioner is appointed.

It will also ask about previous ar rangements with creditors HM Revenue & Customs RHA chief executive Geoff Dunning says members will welcome the changes "There has been a widespread increase in haulage company closures and the RHA has every sympathy with those that have been forced out of business through no fault of their own.

"However, of even greater concern is the rise in instances of companies going bankrupt one day yet restarting, sometimes as soon as the following day, with a similar company name and some, or all, of the directors reinstated," he adds However, the Freight Transport Association disagrees. A spokes man tells CM:-Our position is that FTA does not impose tests of this nature on prospective members."

• Senior TC Philip Brown says he is drawing up a set of guidelines covering how TCs should deal with applications from phoenix operations. Brown is looking to bring in directions for TCs on disqualification

and bankruptcy matters, as well as a range of other areas including repute of transport managers, financial standing and driver conduct. "The aim is to provide greater clarity on how TCs must approach such cases," he says. Last month, Western Area TC Sarah Bell told CM about her concerns lhat the number of firms appearing at public inquiries looking to reestablish themselves under another name could still be on the rise.


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