Millions missing as failed haulage company dissolved

A secured creditor at collapsed Melton Mowbray haulage firm S&J European Haulage has received just £75,469 of the £1.6m owed to it- while others have missed out altogether, according to newly-filed documents seen by TheBusinessDesk.com.

Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance were owed £1.6m when S&J collapsed last March. It had secured creditor status, but has only been paid a fraction of the money owed to it after administrators from Alvarez & Marsal released a new report, updating the progress of the administration process.

Secondary preferential creditors HMRC won’t see a penny of the almost half a million pounds it is owed, while unsecured creditors have also missed out.

Some 82 people lost their jobs when administrators were called in to the £12m Leicestershire haulage firm last year.

S&J’s trading performance over the previous 12-18 months had been hit by rising fuel and labour costs – as well as soaring inflation – which affected the company’s profit margin and, in turn, impacted its working capital facility. The company also lost a major customer in 2023, which meant a loss of £1m to its annual turnover figure. S&J was unable to replace the lost work, according to administrators.

S&J was primarily funded by a CBILS loan, an overdraft provided by Lloyds Bank and an invoice discounting facility through Lloyds Bank Commercial.

The company will now be dissolved.