Insolvency consultants Lucas Ross were drafted in to wind up Telford-based Secal Logistics last week.
An “upsurge in competition” from smaller operators was blamed for the failure of the firm, which owed just under £130,000 to various creditors, including a debt of just under £72,000 to HM Revenue & Customs.
Originally located in Halesfield, the firm was founded in 2004 and provided distribution, haulage and storage services to a variety of industries. The company had been based on the Tweedale industrial estate near Madeley in south Telford since 2020.
“Local single-person operators – targeting local manufacturers and undercutting prices to operate at margins only single-person operators can survive on – caused the company to incur a loss in its final year of trading,” said a spokesperson for Lucas Ross.
“This coupled with increases in employers national insurance led to a conclusion the company’s fortunes would not reverse. In addition, with longstanding and loyal staff, the employment costs of any closure were only growing as time went by, meaning the directors needed to avoid the personal liability risk that arises from increasing the potential losses to creditors.
“The directors therefore took the very difficult decision to cease trading.”
According to a statement of affairs, the company owed a total of £129,818.82 to 30 companies including HMRC.
The company employed a total of 19 staff, according to its most recent set of accounts, filed in May last year.
The liquidators said preferencial creditors, including the firm’s employees and HRMC, would likely receive full repayment of monies owed following the sale of the company’s assets in the run-up to liquidation.
They added there may be a “very small return” for unsecured creditors.
A resolution to voluntarily wind up the company and appoint liquidators was passed on July 17.
