Telford Transport Solutions has been sold for £320,000 to Lloyd Baker Leather, part of the Lloyd Baker Group, in a pre-pack deal which keeps the core management team at the helm and sees the company rebadged as Lloyd Baker Logistics.
As reported by Motor Transport earlier this month, the Telford-based transport, warehousing and fulfilment firm entered administration in October, owing HMRC £1.2m.
David Kemp and Richard Hunt of Exigen Group were appointed as joint administrators and the sale was completed on the same day but the buyer was not named at the time.
However, a recent notice on Telford Transport Solutions’ webite reveals that the company is now part of the Lloyd Baker Group, a UK-based company that develops, manufactures, and sells luxury leather goods, handbags, and accessories and employs over 500 staff.
Exigen Group has confirmed that Telford Transport Solutions (TTS) was sold in a pre-pack administration to Lloyd Baker Leather. It said the sale enabled the business to continue as a going concern, retain all three Telford trading sites and transfer 64 of its 69 employees to the new owner.
Founded in 2009, TTS provided local, national and international transport, third-party logistics, warehousing and e-commerce fulfilment services.
It operated from three leased depots and held an operator licence for 17 HGVs and 41 trailers.
The company’s collapse earlier this month followed mounting arrears owed to HMRC, with unpaid VAT and PAYE reaching approximately £1.2m. Total liabilities were estimated at around £1.8m.
The administrators said the tax arrears had accumulated over several months. A proposed Time to Pay arrangement was ultimately rejected by HMRC, allowing the outstanding balance to continue increasing.
A winding-up petition was served on 30 September, and the directors appointed Exigen as administrators, following an introduction from invoice finance provider Grenke Factoring, which Exigen said is expected to be repaid in full.
According to Exigen, the buyer was the landlord of TTS’s main trading premises, although Lloyd Baker Leather is described as an unconnected business.
The administrators said the sale enabled the company to continue operating across all three sites, with its core management team remaining in place and customer deliveries continuing without interruption.
David Kemp, joint administrator at Exigen Group, said the case illustrates the importance of directors taking prompt action when financial difficulties arise.
“Once the threat of a winding up petition becomes imminent, the options available to a company become much more limited,” he explained.
“In this case, early initial planning enabled a rescue strategy despite the winding up petition, and a pre-pack sale could be completed.
“The business is still trading, all three sites have been retained and 64 jobs have transferred to the new owner.
“If the directors had waited only a few more weeks, the options would have been even more limited.
“That’s why we always say take advice early, because there are far more options while there’s still time to work with, especially when licences or other accreditations are involved.”
