Double whammy of Brexit and Covid brought down manufacturer
Grantham-based trailer manufacturer Fruehauf owed almost £5m when it slumped into administration in August, according to documents seen by TheBusinessDesk.com.
Some 120 jobs were saved at the £21m-turnover firm, when it was sold to Scotland-based truck specialist MV Commercial. Fruehauf produced a range of tipping trailers and rigid truck bodies, quality control systems and techniques. It operated from a 67-acre site in Grantham, Lincolnshire.
Fruehauf had around a 90% share of the market it operated in, but suffered from a change in trading terms brought about by Brexit and the effect of the pandemic on the supply chain, which resulted in a downturn in sales. Its factory in Grantham closed last year, with staff furloughed for a time.
Accounts for the company show a loss of £2.7m for the year-ended September 2020.
Two of the companys directors, David Thompson and Navneet Ahluwalia raised concerns around this time over the way the company was being run prior to their elevation to director, as well as the validity of outstanding debentures over the firm’s assets and the siginificant debts owed by the group.
Thompson and Ahluwalia made an application to the Court to appoint Quantuma as administrators, while UHY Hacker Young were appointed separately by another director, Iain McKeand, in both his personal capacity as a secured creditor and on behalf of Red Circle Investments – also a secured creditor.
The firm was subsequently sold to MV Commercial in a deal worth £1.25m.
MV Commercial, established in 2001, is a leading supplier of new and used trucks in the UK, specialising in truck rental and lorry mounted cranes. With its headquarters in Airdrie, Scotland, the firm also has depots in Haydock, Livingston, Oxford, and London.
