The Gwynedd Shipping group of companies that collapsed into administration in February are estimated to owe unsecured creditors almost £8m with none expected to receive their money, according to accountants at Kroll.

In a report to creditors, the administrator explained how Gwynedd Shipping (GS), Gwynedd Transport (GT) and Gwynedd Shipping Logistics (GSL) had all been experiencing cashflow pressures in the run-up to its appointment, “due to trading underperformance”,

Kroll launched an accelerated merger and acquisition process in order to find a buyer, but it said that despite an exhaustive process no suitable offers were made for the businesses, on either a solvent or insolvent basis.

Of the three companies, GT provided freight transport services and operated out of four sites in Holyhead, Ellesmere Port, Shotton and Llanwern.

It employed around 123 staff and held an operator licence authorising 30 HGVs and 50 trailers.

All staff, which included 21 working for GS and 23 for GSL, have now been made redundant.

The report said that according to the financial position calculated from the companies’ books and records, the transport business is estimated to owe £3.4m to unsecured creditors, GS is estimated to owe £3.9m and the warehouse and storage business GSL is estimated to owe £703,000.

“Based on current information available to the joint administrators, it is anticipated that there will be insufficient funds available to permit a dividend to the unsecured creditors,” Kroll added.

At the time of its appointment, Kroll said the group of companies had “faced financial challenges common in the transport and distribution sector, including certain loss-making contracts”.

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