News

The boss of a company who was physically threatened by an angry creditor has been granted a new restricted licence for four vehicles by Welsh Deputy Traffic Commissioner Fiona Harrington. Tim Askew, director of Wrexham-based Fortress Tyres, had been involved with a number of failed companies. He said margins were tight because of Chinese and Indian imports of new tyres. Fortress was making quite big losses because it did not have sufficient distribution capacity and desperately needed the licence  to remain a viable business.

Asked about the operation of a vehicle displaying a licence disc in the name of Castle Tyres after that company was liquidated, Askew said that it had arisen through a misunderstanding in the office. In October, two thugs were sent by a creditor and they made various threats until removed by the police. Personal threats were then made, which the police took very seriously, and the company secretary, who had been responsible for O-licensing, resigned because of the stress.

When Fortress took over Castle Tyres, the company was in difficulty. It managed to turn it round and were just entering profit when there were problems with invoice financing at the start of the credit crunch. Three other companies - Unsworth, Silverscore and Unsworth Joinery - had gone into liquidation because of problems arising when Askew was away from the business due to personal problems. The DTC was satisfied that there were legitimate reasons for the liquidations  and that there had been no deliberate attempt to disadvantage creditors.

The DTC had been concerned about fitness to hold a licence because of the director's connection with several failed businesses.