Mackay gets O-licence despite Brora links
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TC Joan Aitken has granted Edward Mackay Contractor a licence following PI into connections with revoked haulier
By Roger Brown
CIVIL ENGINEERING haulage specialist Edward Mackay Contractor has been granted an O-licence following a public inquiry (PI) that examined its links with revoked haulier Brora Transport.
In a written decision following a June PI in Inverness, traffic commissioner (TC) for Scotland Joan Aitken allowed the application from the Sutherlandbased firm for four vehicles and two trailers, subject to a condition that the firm cannot apply for an increase in vehicle authorisation within the first two years.
Edward Mackay senior’s limited company Edward Mackay went into liquidation in 2007. In March 2010 he made an application in the name of Edward Mackay Contractor for six vehicles and six trailers, but did not tell the TC’s office about the liquidation because The TC’s office in Leeds incorrectly took the view that a false declaration might have been made, and MacKay senior withdrew the application in May 2010. However, in the same month Mackay’s grandsons Scott and Liam Mackay applied for an O-licence for a new company Brora Transport.
Brora was granted an O-licence in August 2010 subject to a finance condition. However, following a PI, Aitken revoked its licence in October 2011 saying that the vehicles were being operated using the finances of Edward Mackay Contractor or Edward Mackay senior, and that there were no funds in Brora Transport that could be called its own.
Mackay senior had wrongly told his grandsons they could operate the company through him giving financial guarantees, and him paying the fuel bills and drivers’ wages.
In October 2011, on the day the Brora Transport licence was revoked, Edward Mackay Contractor submitted a new application for a licence with Mackay senior and his son Eddie Mackay as transport managers.
Edward Mackay Contractor had secured a major contract with Scottish and Southern Energy as part of the Beauly to Denny transmission line upgrade, along with the Diageo distillery contract at Invergordon.
Mackay senior told the TC at the latest PI that his LGVs had been parked up since the revocation of the Brora Transport licence. He was able to prove that he had spent £197,000 on subcontracting vehicles and drivers from 10 Scottish hauliers from October 2011 to May this year.
Mackay senior had also attended a Freight Transport Association O-licence awareness training course in April to learn about new legislative developments in transport.
However, Aitken issued a warning to him and his son regarding their reputes. “It became apparent from the evidence at the Brora Transport PI that Brora was a front for an operation whereby Edward Mackay Contractor was able to operate goods vehicles for its civil engineering business, notwithstanding previous revocation and withdrawal of its own application,” she said.
“By limiting the vehicle operation I can be sure that Messrs Mackay will not be in charge of expansionist desires that will override the strict requirements to adhere to the licence undertakings.”
‘A stupid move’
Aitken told Mackay and his son that using Brora Transport as a front had been “a patently stupid move”, and that they would have been better served applying in the name of Edward Mackay Contractor all along.