The former boss of a Norfolk haulage firm that collapsed last year said it hadn’t yet entered insolvency proceedings because he had struggled to raise the funds to pay for it.
Joe Barnard, who ran Total Home Delivery until it was forced to close in September 2024, said he was in discussions with an insolvency practitioner to start the process after being told of staff complaining that they were still in limbo and remained unpaid.
Former employees have contacted Motor Transport and spoken of the “time and stress” at being left out of pocket almost a year after Total Home Delivery closed down.
The haulier, an arm of Barnard’s Total Logistix Group, bought the vehicles, warehouse, goodwill and intellectual property of Star Transport in June 2023 in a deal that cost £275,000.
Star itself was a company within the Bomfords Group and it had snapped up some of this business when it too entered administration.
However, Star did not fare any better and it succumbed to administration the following year.
Barnard had ambitions to grow Total Home Delivery into a £32m business and his pre-pack deal of Star’s assets also safeguarded 83 jobs.
However, within months the firm encountered significant financial problems, which Barnard blamed on losing its invoice discount facility.
Shortly after, all staff were made redundant; they said they were given no explanation for what had occurred other than the business was due to enter insolvency proceedings.
But since then, nothing has happened.
Barnard confirmed that both Total Home Delivery and Total Logistix Group were no longer trading and that he had stepped away from the industry with no intention of returning.
He also said: “Unfortunately, due to a lack of funds the business is still yet to formally enter into administration.
“However, this isn’t far off – I would say a couple of weeks maximum. Unfortunately, due to the size of the business, it attracts a rather large price tag that is unavoidable and without an income personally this has been hard to get together.”
Barnard added: “I have spoken to the IP today and have asked them if they will start the process and let me pay weekly to get the ball rolling so the staff can get their redundancy.”
One former driver told Motor Transport: “It’s about the time and stress this is causing me and others as we are owed a lot of money between us.”
