Heathcliff Haulage submits to pre-pack administration
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HF_ATHCLIFF HAULAGE says HM Revenue & Customs' (FIMRC) pursuit of it for unpaid debts left it with no choice but to undergo a pre-pack administration deal, Heath Noel-Storr. MD at the Wisbech, Cambridgeshire-based firm, put the business up for sale in April, but no buyer was found.
As a result, Neil Bennett and Michael Healy of Leonard Curtis were appointed joint administrators of the business on 18 May.
On the same day, his company Noel-Storr Limited, which was set up in February, was used as a vehicle to purchase the company assets, including its name. The new business has now re-registered its name as Heathcliff Haulage. "The reason for doing a prepack deal was to ensure we could save all 4.8 jobs. There are only about five creditors listed, with the majority owed less than /2,000 each. However the biggest creditor was HMRC, and there was no way we could pay it in the timescale required," Noel-Storr says.
The firm, which has an 0-licence for 34 vehicles and 20 trailers, says it also lost revenue when some key customers collapsed during 2009.
A spokeswoman for Leonard Curtis says: "The amount owed to HMRC had left the business in a position where it would be closed down. We are dealing with the aftermath of the debts, and this will be ongoing for a while."
Meanwhile, the new business has retained membership of Palletways, and Noel-Storr claims most customers have remained with the company.