The administrators of a Cardiff-based haulage firm are pursuing legal action against one of the company’s former directors for an unpaid debt.

In a report to creditors of D&A Media Bristol, joint administrator Huw Powell at Begbies Traynor said the sum of £51,374 is due from Richard Grimes, who resigned as director in 2016.

Powell said despite having written to Grimes “on numerous occasions” no response had been received.

The report said it is also in dispute with fellow director Andrew Emmett in respect of a £313,273 overdrawn directors’ loan account.

“Although Mr Emmett disputes the amount due, he has made a proposal to pay £10 per week to settle the debt, which we have advised is not satisfactory,” it said.

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“We will continue to correspond with Mr Emmett in respect of the sum due from him. Should no satisfactory repayment proposal be received, legal proceedings will be commenced.

“As no response has been received from Mr Grimes, we are in the process of collating evidence to support legal proceedings.”

Before D&A Media Bristol entered administration in June 2018 it had a turnover of approximately £10m, employed around 90 staff and operated 100 HGVs.

However, HMRC issued a winding-up petition against the company for unpaid VAT and associated penalties.

Subsequently the company appointed administrators and agreed a transfer of customers and employees to two businesses, one if which – D&A 004 – shared common directors, Emmett and Grimes.

D&A 004 went into liquidation in December 2018, having not paid the £5,000 negotiated for D&A Media Bristol’s intellectual property and unencumbered assets.

The latest report added that there will be insufficient funds available to pay preferential and unsecured creditors of D&A Media Bristol.

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