A failed move into freight forwarding contributed to the collapse of Simon Widdowson last month, according to the firm’s administrator Begbies Traynor.

Founded in 2002, the family firm was set up by Simon “due to a passion for trucking passed down by Simon’s father, Derek”.

The company’s Linkedin account describes having 30,000sq ft of ambient storage with the capability to offer “start-to-finish services; by collecting containers from all major North-West ports, container de-vanning, storage and onward delivery”.

According to Claire Dowson and Gareth Rusling of Begbies Traynor, who were appointed as the haulier’s administrators on 21 December, the company ran into problems after opening a freight forwarding division in 2015. This was not profitable and ceased trading in 2018.

“Unfortunately, a considerable amount of money had been spent on the venture, impacting the company’s cashflow.

"In addition, in 2017 one of its customers had problems with a supplier resulting in no stock being placed into the company’s facility for several months, putting further pressure on cashflow.

“While steps were taken to source new customers, the prices charged were not sufficient to cover increased costs,” the administrators said in a statement.

The business was subsequently put up for sale but, according to Begbies Traynor, while there was some interest a deal could not be concluded and the administrator was appointed.

The business has ceased trading with all 38 staff, including two directors, made redundant.

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