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Tinnelly International Transport (TIT) had debts of more than £6m when it ceased trading in February this year, MT can reveal. The firm went into administration on 24 February and its trade and assets were immediately sold to linked company Tinnelly Transport under a pre-pack deal for a total of £60,000.

Duncan Morris from the Redfern Partnership, writing to creditors in his initial progress report, says that he was appointed by the firm's directors following consultation with its  major funders Northern Bank and Close Invoice Finance; these two companies alone are owed £3.3m according to the company's draft statement of affairs.

Close had an invoice finance agreement with the company and had advanced it some £855,000 on invoices of £1.1m. However, Morris notes: "Initial estimations provided by Close suggest that it will suffer a shortfall on its advances to the company, as there are a number of disapproved/bad debts."

Additionally, the draft statement of affairs lists these debtors as worth £1.6m instead of £1.1m in the assets column. This, combined with a potential increase in the amount owed to unsecured creditors, from £1.2m to £2.1m - another discrepancy between the initial figures and the statement of affairs - means that the firm's total deficiency will probably top £4.5m.

Of the £2.1m owed to unsecured creditors, the majority is accounted for by trade suppliers - tyre companies, ferry operators and fuel suppliers. There are also a number  of hauliers in the list, not least of which is sister company Barnes & Tipping, itself in administration, which is owed £388,775. In fact, TIT had also loaned £540,000 to Barnes & Tipping, according to the statement of affairs.

To further complicate matters, Barnes & Tipping's statement of affairs also lists an inter-company loan of £1.6m under its assets. Morris says in the report that it is too early to say if unsecured creditors will receive any dividend, but judging by the scale of the debts, this would seem unlikely.