Collapsed Hertfordshire haulier lost major contracts after rapid expansion

Hertfordshire-based Carters Haulage entered administration after expanding from one lorry to 40 in just three years to service a blue chip client and then losing the business months later.

In a report to creditors, administrators at SFP also said it was now investigating “certain transactions” prior to their appointment and that it may be advisable for the business to remain in administration for the time being.

The company was incorporated in 2015 and began trading out of premises in Hoddesdon with one lorry.

In 2017 it started work for a company on behalf of the main contractor and then the following year it began working directly for the client

The report said that this contract “led to a significant increase in the business and its fleet grew to in excess of 40 vehicles.

“In order to manage the increased workload, the company took on a number of new staff, including staff to concentrate on operations.”

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• Carters Haulage ceases trading

However, Carters Haulage then lost the major customer towards the end of 2018, but it managed to secure another large contract with another blue chip business.

The report added that by January 2019, the company was no longer working for either of the customers, but it still had a large amount of overheads to cover.

The company’s director then suffered a family bereavement in November 2019 and was unable to assist with running Carters and as liabilities grew it ceased trading early this year.

The report said: “The joint administrators’ initial strategy for achieving the second objective was to maximise realisations of the company’s assets.

“However, it soon came to light that there were no realisable assets.”

It added: “There is still a significant amount of work to be undertaken.

“On present information, there will not be a dividend to preferential and non-preferential unsecured creditors.”