Hauliers face clm loss in Brain crash
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by Karen Miles • Sub-contractors owed over a million pounds by crashed container operator Brain Haulage received little consolation this week as the liquidator pronounced the coffers empty Joint liquidators Cork Gully and Grant Thornton, who were appointed by creditors last week, say the hundreds of unsecured creditors, including many hauliers, should expect to writeoff their debts.
A spokesman says: "On the information supplied there won't be a return to unsecured creditors...unfortunately, it's a very unhealthy position".
There is already a shortfall of around 1600,000 on the money owed to preferential creditors, who claim the first pickings.
At a creditors' meeting last week it emerged that Essex-based Brain owes £3.4m and has assets worth only 1793,000.
Around £1.47m of the debt is to unsecured creditors and £537,000 to leasing companies. The major preferential creditor is the Department of Employment which is owed at least 11.1m for redundancy payments to Brain staff. Howard Evans at KPMG Peat Marwick is the receiver; he is "slowly" collecting Brain's debts and realising its assets.
The 117m-turnover company went into receivership nine months ago because of high borrowings and tight margins.