Creditors of Hull-based CJ Express could be left close to £1m out of pocket, according to the collapsed company’s statement of affairs.

Liquidator Leonard Curtis has estimated a deficiency in regards unsecured creditors of £978,570.

The statement reveals little in the way of assets for the haulier, which was placed into an insolvency procedure last month, with the majority of its vehicles on a finance lease with Mercedes-Benz.

The two largest unsecured creditors are CJ Express’ parent company Premier Logistics, which is owed £339,093, and CJ’s former sister company MWC Logistics.

MWC Logistics, which is owed £370,259, continues to trade and has not been affected by CJ Express’s demise.

HMRC is owed £11,786, other non secured trade creditors £186,011, and there are £37,057 of employee unsecured claims shown on the statement of affairs.

Family firm CJ Express, which also traded as CJE Logistics, was bought by Premier Logistics in July 2015 for an undisclosed sum.

At the time, Premier Logistics MD Lee Christopher said the deal would expand Premier Logistics reach in the north of England and increase group turnover to £21m.

The acquisition created a combined fleet of 125 vehicles along with 300,000ft² of warehousing space across three locations.

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