Bristol haulier John Dinham sold in pre-pack deal, saving 36 jobs

The company entered administration in February after its relationship with its biggest customer broke down and it suffered a bad debt due to the collapse of Norfolk haulage firm Bomfords in December 2023, according to Quantuma Advisory.

In a report to creditors, the administrator said the company had traded successfully for a number of years: “Following the outbreak of Covid-19, the company experienced a significant upturn in trade from an online retail customer,” it said.

“Revenue grew to £10.1m in the year ending September 2022, with the customer representing approximately 75% of revenue.

“To deliver this growth, staff increased to approximately 130 and the business invested in additional vehicles, largely funded by hire purchase and lease agreements.

“In 2023, the customer reduced the price it paid for deliveries. This reduction resulted in the sales to the customer incurring losses. Several discussions were held between the company and the customer resulting in the relationship ceasing in May 2023.”

Quantuma said John Dinham Transport then tried to lower its cost base by reducing its fleet and staff numbers so that it could profitably serve the Pall-Ex and For-Ex networks, but this was unsuccessful and a £40,000 bad debt linked to Bomfords Group led to severe cash flow issues and increasing liabilities.

On 8 January, HMRC issued a warning it would wind the haulier up for the £637,990 it was owed and so administrators were soon appointed.

Quantuma calculated that a sale of John Dinham’s goodwill represented the best outcome for creditors than it entering liquidation and so a pre-pack deal with UK Freight Services for a total of £100,000 was achieved on 6 February.

The report said that 36 staff also transferred over in the process.

“Jonathan Dinham, who is a director and shareholder of the company is a director and shareholder of UK Freight Services,” it added.