Transam goes under
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• Bristol-based parcels company Transam has gone out of business, owing thousands of pounds, and putting more than 40 franchisees out of work.
Director Nick Chater, who with partner Mike Metcalfe left Interlink to form Transam in 1988, blames the collapse on "a downturn in the sales of franchises" and the banks' current tough line on credit.
Chater is bitter: "We've walked away with nothing. I've lost my house. We were Thatcher's children and it's all gone sour."
Transam's turnover last year was about £1.5m.
The franchisees operating Transam's former nationwide postcode network, many of them husband and wife teams, have banded together and hope to be taken on by Midlandsbased Inter County Couriers.
ICC manager Chris Smith says he is confident "the majority" of ex-Transam franchisees will be given work, and will be used to build up ICC's overnight delivery network.
ICC has been running a franchise operation for four months after operating a twoyear pilot scheme. The company was set up in 1988 by director Simon Wilkinson from a Birmingham-based depot.