News

The boss of a collapsed South Wales haulier will come under increased scrutiny this week after it emerged that investigations into the demise of a previous transport company he ran are still ongoing.

Swansea firm A&M (South Wales) ceased trading on 13 June with the loss of 100 jobs.

A&M (South Wales) was run by Martin Evans. He had previously been in charge of a related firm, A&M Transport Services, which  was liquidated last year with outstanding debts of nearly £1m.

The liquidator of the latter firm, Gary Stones, says investigations into alleged insolvent trading are still ongoing.

Three to four months prior to the liquidation in July 2007, A&M Transport Services had transferred the majority of its business and its staff to its parent, A&M (South Wales), which had previously acted as a holding company.

A&M Transport Services had already been presented with a winding up petition at the beginning of May 2007 for a total of £483,732, pointing to a long-standing debt.

The firm had been a member of pallet network UK Pallets since July 2007. However, it was removed from it earlier this year following poor service levels. Curiously, when contacted, UK Pallets believed it had been working with A&M Transport, raising questions about its vetting procedures.  

At the time of writing, Martin Evans was unavailable for comment.