Pandemic blamed for collapse of Welsh haulier

Welsh haulier Adrian Poole & Sons International has entered administration.

Insolvency practitioners from Mazars LLP were appointed to the business, which operates out of two depots in Whitland and Llanfyrnach, on 14 June.

No-one from Mazars was able to respond as we went to press and no-one from the haulage company responded to our calls.

However, recent financial documents summarising an ongoing voluntary arrangement Adrian Poole & Sons International was subjected to reveal it had struggled during the pandemic.

The arrangement, which came into effect in February 2020, saw the company making weekly contributions to creditors of £1,800.

The supervisor of the arrangement, Abbey Taylor, said the operator was struggling to maintain the contributions as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and so it agreed to grant a three-month payment break.

However, it added that the director of the haulage company had also failed to provide recent financial information and a cashflow forecast and so a “notice of breach” was issued on 31 March 2021, with one month to rectify the breach.

The report said: “If the company fails to rectify the breach the arrangement will be terminated and a winding up petition issued against the company.”

The operator holds a standard international licence authorising a total of 25 HGVs and 30 trailers out of its two bases.