A meeting of creditors of Leicester haulier A M Widdowson & Son will take place on 3 July ahead of a proposed CVA.
According to a nominees’ report, seen by Motortransport.co.uk, Widdowson has appointed insolvency practitioners Leonard Curtis, which has recommended that for there to be a viable business going forward creditors will be returned 36.12p in the pound.
It describes this as a “significant improvement on what would be available if the company were to be placed into liquidation”. The CVA has the backing of secured creditor Close Invoice Finance.
It also states that the company shares have been recently sold to investors HLD Group – which it states has a “long-term vision for the company” and is a “strategic fit within its existing portfolio".
The proposal also says that Widdowson made a loss of £1.2m in the year to 31 March 2015, with further losses of £470,000 made in April and May. It says that two profitable contracts, which accounted for £5m turnover and “good margins”, had been lost in March 2014 and September 2014.
It also reveals that the operator had been in sale discussions over the past 18 months but a deal, which had reached a detailed due diligence and contract negotiation phase, had fallen away prior to the sale to HLD Group.
Widdowson had joined Palletways earlier this year, while former commercial director John Hawksworth left the firm last year to join Birds Groupage.
Widdowson and HLD Group were unavailable for comment. Joseph Murphy, director at former shareholder Charles Street Buildings Group, which held 48.54% of the company, confirmed that the business was no longer a shareholder in A W Widdowson & Son.
