News / More haulage jobs at risk as another UK SME faces bankruptcy

Another UK haulier has collapsed into administration, a week after UK law firm Leonard Curtis was appointed the administrator of another trucker SME, Youngs.

Some 65 jobs are at risk at Kirriemuir-based AAD Transport, as administrator Ken Begbies Traynor begins an effort to find a buyer to keep the haulier operating.

Ken Pattullo, partner at Begbies and joint administrator, added: “Our priority is engaging with all stakeholders to find a solution for the business and employees.”

Established in 2011, family-run AAD operated across the UK and in Europe, but rising costs and shrinking profit margins have taken their toll.

Partner at Begbies Traynor in Scotland Thomas McKay said: “Unfortunately, the transport sector has been severely impacted both by Covid and by higher-than-normal increases in fuel and other operating costs in recent times.”

The news of yet another SME trucking outfit in the UK facing bankruptcy adds to the bleak picture of a sector that has witnessed the collapse of at least 463 similar-size firms over the past 12 months, according to data from accountancy firm Price Bailey, the yearly rate of collapse having more than doubled since 2020, with one-to-two firms at risk of bankruptcy every day.

The data also indicated that some 33% of businesses in the sector are deemed at maximum credit risk, up from 22% 12 months ago, and “considered at imminent risk of collapse”.

Sources within the sector told The Loadstar it was likely “most of the firms that have gone were struggling and running on borrowed money; interest rates were probably killing them”.

Price Bailey confirmed it would be “almost impossible” for those in the maximum credit risk bracket to access additional funding without directors providing “personal guarantees”.

A study conducted by The Loadstar shows at least 90% of the UK hauliers that failed in the past month were independently or family owned, and the Road Haulage Association said hauliers operated on “paper thin” margins of around 2%.

Asked if they had been impacted, one haulier told The Loadstar it was “by no means an easy market for smaller operators” at present. They added: “Insurance has gone mad, our work with Amazon is hit and miss and container work is quiet. To be honest, we had not realised things were that bad.

“We run a very tight ship; when it comes to costs, we don’t pay ourselves much when we have a bad month and we don’t have all our eggs in the same basket either – but out of adversity comes opportunity.”