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Another one bites the dust
Page 10
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The problems that caused Peter Cook Transport's collapse are sadly
familiar... Sally Nash reports.
DURHAM-BASED Peter Cook Transport, which went into administration earlier this month, has blamed high diesel prices and competition from Eastern Europe. It had been in business for 22 years.
Sources close to the company have quashed suggestions in the trade press that the move was prompted by customer LG Philips' decision to close its factory in the city. "Peter Cook does some warehousing for LG Philips. but that wasn't the determining factor," says an industry source.
Foreign competition hit Peter Cook Transport particularly hard because around 95% of its business was international work.
It is understood that the warehousing side of the business will continue;the management is understood to be looking at new projects According to Newcastle upon Tyne-based accountancy firm Tait Walker, which is handling the administration, a large part of the 120-strong workforce has been made redundant, although many of the drivers were self-employed.
A Tait Walker spokesman confirms a combination of fuel costs and foreign competition led to the collapse of the business.
He adds that Tait Walker was unlikely to be able to sell the firm as a going concern. Peter Cook Transport's debts are unknown because Tait Walker had not received any figures from the company as CM went to press.