News

Livestock hauliers left high and dry following a Somerset incineration plant's move into administration are not pinning their hopes on receiving the money owed to them, despite the company being up for sale.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) confirms it is trying to find a buyer for Frome-based Wessex Incineration, which had a government contract to collect and dispose of  'fallen stock' across the country. Commercial Motor understands it subcontracted work out to 16 hauliers, many of whom are pessimistic about their chances of recouping the hundreds of thousands of pounds they are owed.

Charlie Martin, for Essex-based W Martin & Son, says he is owed £60,000: "It's a hell of a substantial amount," he adds. "I have bills to pay. We have a new waste building being built, which [Wessex] said we had to get. Other companies have gone out of business because of this. We're still trying to pay for diesel and pay the wages like everyone else."

A spokeswoman for PWC would not comment on the financial state of the incineration company when administrators were brought in on 16 September. However, accounts filed at Companies House show that for the year ending 31 December 2007 it had more than doubled its turnover to £4.6m and converted a £711,000 loss in 2006 into a £1.1m pre-tax profit.

The PWC spokeswoman says: "The directors requested  the administration because an incinerator broke down and they did not have the funds to repair it. We are looking for a buyer, but we are not in a position to tell you whether creditors will receive their money or the extent of creditors' debts.

She adds: "As administrators we are looking to maximise the amount we secure for this business, so we can't release information into the marketplace which could influence that." Rob Green, chairman of the Licensed Animal Slaughterers and Salvage Association, says a meeting between hauliers will take place this week: "They are bound to be worried and annoyed. I would like to hope they can sell it as a going concern and get quite a lot of money from it and that our members get something back."