Air freight logistics and refrigerated transport company Mark Priestley SDT has been sold to a new company after it entered administration.

The Slough-based company, which held an international and national operators’ licence and ran more than 20 lorries out of four operating centres, went into administration on 22 February after a winding up petition was issued against it.

Administrators at SFP said Mark Priestley SDT, which has two directors – Daniel and Mark Priestley - experienced substantial growth in 2017 to the extent it was having to turn down additional work.

But in 2018, “a significant customer increased its billing from 35 to 7,000 invoices per month, which resulted in payment issues and subsequent queries on account,” it said.

“This affected the company’s cash flow position, which also impacted payments to suppliers and saw the company fall behind with HMRC payments for both PAYE and NIC.”

Read more

SFP said it was able to organise a sale and purchase agreement with PSDT on 1 March, enabling 12 employees to transfer over to the purchaser, while a further 20 staff were made redundant.

Administrator Simon Plant said: “This is the best result for the company and its contracted employees.

“We were able to quickly find a buyer and organise the sale within a week, ensuring the impact on trading and employees was kept to a minimum.”

Records show PSDT was incorporated on 22 February and has one director, Kayleigh Priestley.

It also has a shareholder named Odette Priestley.

The administrator was unavailable to answer further questions as this article was published.

Image: Shutterstock