Another haulage pre-pack administration will be scrutinised by TC Beverley Bell in December after she called Preston operator Ainsworth & Martin (A&M) to Public Inquiry over its application for a new licence. It is currently in line to take over the business of collapsed haulier Ainsworth & Martin (Preston) - run by the same director, Stephen Dunn - which went into administration earlier this month after a sale to the new firm for an undisclosed sum.
Ainsworth & Martin (Preston) had been advertised for sale in August in a process that Dunn describes as "above board and on the open market" and "at arm's length"; although several offers were received, the best was from A&M. It is currently running the business under licence from administrators Centrum Recovery pending completion of the deal later this month. However, A&M was actually set up in May this year, with an O-licence applied for in June and interim authority granted in August.
Despite the fact there appears to be an element of premeditation to events, Dunn insists this is not the case: "There are reasons for doing things not related to the exercise." He declined to comment on the failure of his former business, or the creditors who will be left out of pocket by its demise, but stressed that 100 jobs had been saved by the deal.
He adds: "This is a springboard for the company to go forward. We are very optimistic about the future." Administrator Andrew Clay blames the cash crisis on the opening of a new depot in the South-West that left Ainsworth & Martin (Preston) over-stretched. He adds: "It opened a new depot in Gloucester that didn't work and it cost it a fortune to do so."
The company's last set of accounts, filed in January this year for the period ending 31 March 2008, show that the firm was already in the red - posting a pre-tax loss of £145,844 - with net debt standing at just over £1.5m; turnover was at £8.6m. Ainsworth & Martin 
(Preston) was a member of network Pallet-Track and it is understood that the new firm has continued in that role.