Pre-pack sale of Covid-hit SCS Logistics saves 28 jobs

A Lancashire haulage firm employing 28 staff has managed to avoid making them all redundant by achieving a pre-pack sale after it was heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

SCS Logistics, which traded out of Heysham and had a licence authorising 37 HGVs, was incorporated in 2011. But according to administrators at Quantuma, the restrictions implemented as a result of Covid-19 and cost increases pushed the business to the wall.

An initial plan to sell the business stalled when The Pallet Network (TPN), of which it was a member, said it was not willing to deal with a buyer it was not familiar with. The contract SCS held with TPN formed 70% of its trading.

“The relationship between TPN and the company is with [directors] Sandra Cottam-Shea and Sarah Metcalfe, therefore it is likely that without the continuation of the current management, there is no real prospect of selling the TPN agreement to a third-party purchaser,” the administrators said.

Eventually, S&S Logistics, supported by transport firm Graylaw International, bought SCS Logistics for £165,000. Metcalfe is also a director at S&S Logistics.