A West Lothian haulage business has gone bust with the loss of almost 70 jobs.
Administrators have been appointed to Bathgate-based Corporate Road Solutions 24:7, based in the town’s Redmill Industrial Estate.
Founded in 2005, the business had been operating as a road haulage contractor and freight forwarder. It specialised in the transport of goods for large supermarket chains together with smaller Scottish businesses.
Following the appointment of administrators, 66 staff have been made redundant while four workers have been retained to assist with the winding down process.
The company is said to have been operating against a backdrop of “increasingly challenging market conditions and cost pressures”.
Over the course of 2019, the resulting financial difficulties were compounded by the departure of “key freight forwarding staff to a competitor” together with the loss of an unnamed major customer.
Sale
Management sought to address financial issues by cutting costs and securing additional working capital, while talks were also held with third parties with a view to attracting investment or a sale of the business.
Blair Nimmo, joint administrator and KPMG’s UK head of restructuring, said: “Haulage remains a challenging sector and, despite the tireless efforts of the director, unfortunately, Corporate Road Solutions 24:7 has now entered into administration.
“It has not proved possible to continue trading in light of significant liabilities and cashflow difficulties. This has, in turn, resulted in the redundancies which have been announced and the closure of operations.”
He added: “Our attention is focused on supporting the impacted customers and employees. We will be working with all affected employees and the relevant government agencies.”
