Lincoln haulage business calls in administrators
Tue, 25 Jun 2024 | ADMINISTRATION
Cartwright Brothers (Haulage) Limited, a haulage and storage business based in Lincoln, has fallen into administration and ceased trading. The family-owned company has suffered as a result of rising prices, macroeconomic conditions and the COVID-19 pandemic over recent years.
In the year to February 28 2023, the company reported turnover of £11.5 million, down only slightly from £11.6 million a year earlier. However, it fell from a £1.28 million post-tax profit in 2022 to a post-tax loss of £191,626.
At the time, the company stated that it had been impacted by the war in Ukraine and the subsequent impact of the crisis on fuel prices. However, it considered this a “reasonable result in what remains a challenging economy” and said that it had also seen the value of its freehold property increase to “unprecedented levels” as a result of rising demand for commercial warehousing.
Despite this relatively recent optimism, the company has continued to face adverse factors and ultimately fell into administration last week, appointing Elizabeth Welch and Matthew Ingram of Kroll Advisory as joint administrators.
The company was founded by four brothers in 1944 in order to meet demand for road haulage services in the agricultural sector. The firm has been run by directors, Jamie and John Cartwright (who are cousins and sons of two of the original founders) for more than 30 years.
John Cartwright said that the business had been unable to continue as a result of “the number of challenges thrown at us”.
Jamie Cartwright added that running a haulage company has “come with huge challenges” over the past decade, citing "rising diesel prices, a difficult economy, along with huge constraints caused by COVID-19".
He continued: "Cartwright was never able to continue in the same vein since COVID. Plus, the Ukrainian war had a huge impact on our sector in terms of fuel price increases, acquiring replacement parts for vehicles and having to wait long periods of time for these parts to arrive – and at inflated prices.”
"All of these challenges were underpinned by serious lorry driver shortages following Brexit which added even more pressure to running Cartwright Bros, along with government legislation changes which continued to impede our viability."
In its 2023 accounts, the company’s fixed assets were valued at £8.5 million and current assets at £4.1 million. However, its debts at the time left it with net assets totalling just over £3 million.
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