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End of the line for ILJ Ponsonby
Page 7
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• Midlands haulier DJ Ponsonby has gone into liquidation blaming an accumulation of bad debts. All 30 employees have been made redundant
The Birmingham firm is part of the Highcare Group that also runs express haulier Rapid Freight Systems, which is unaffected by the closure.
Administrators from Grant Thornton met with the company on 2 September to formulate a rescue package. But after a week of limited trading it became apparent there was insufficient funding available.
"We are liaising with creditors and leasing companies," says a Grant Thornton spokesman. "One of the masons for the collapse was the difficulty it was having with a couple of bad debts over the past 18 months."
The spokesman stressed that none of the other companies within the group is affected by the collapse.
DJ Ponsonby has been trading since 1987.
Its accounts for last year show a loss of over 1200,000 and the annual report con cludes that though its balance sheet showed an insolvent position, the firm's bankers were providing support.
The spokesman added that a meeting of the company's creditors will take place "sooner rather than later".
Company director Desmond Ponsonby was unavailable for comment as CM went to press.
In 1999 Ponsonby's managing director was part of a delegation of hauliers who spoke to government ministers over the pressures facing the industry (CM 9-15 Sept 1999).