Specialist haulage firm Wood Logistics & Lifting entered administration after the landlord told it to vacate the premises and its new site was not in an ideal state to move into immediately.
The haulier has since been sold for £242,000 in a pre-pack deal to a company that shares the same director as the Leeds transport company, saving 22 jobs according to administrators at Leonard Curtis.
Wood Logistics was set up in 2017 and was profitable for most of its time, with turnover increasing in each of the last two years by around £800,000.
It operated out of premises in Birstall, which Leonard Curtis said was ideal for its size and purpose, but when a new landlord took over the site it informed the haulier in early 2023 it would not be renewing the lease.
Eventually, the company found a new operating centre in Morley but extensive work had to be carried out to make it fit for purpose and the costs involved were significantly higher than expected.
“This had a knock-on effect of non-payment of creditors, significantly HMRC liabilities, mainly in respect of VAT,” the administrator said in a report to creditors.
A payment plan with HMRC was agreed, initially with payments of around £15,000 per month against VAT arrears and ongoing payments for PAYE/NIC; however, Leonard Curtis said these payments were not always paid by the due date.
The company had further communications with HMRC and believed it had agreed a new time to pay plan, but by March 2025 it became aware HMRC had issued a petition to wind it up.
“It was determined that the petition had been issued as a consequence of further correspondence being issued by HMRC, which the company have no record of receiving and therefore went unanswered,” the report explained.
Leonard Curtis was then appointed administrator and a sale was achieved in June to a company called WoodLLL for a total value of £241,985. The majority of this is for the fleet vehicles (£195,300):
“It should be noted that the purchaser is a connected company, as a director and shareholder of the company, Paul Wood, is also a director and the shareholder of the purchaser.”
Companies House records showed Stephen Burt and James Holgate are also listed as directors.
Wood Logistics’ unsecured claims in respect of trade creditors are estimated to total around £279,000; Leonard Curtis said at this stage it was considered unlikely that there would be sufficient funds to pay a distribution to this class of creditor.
