Haulage company jobs safe despite shutdown orders
WORKERS at a west Wales firm have been told their jobs are safe despite the company being ordered to shut down.
Mansel Davies and Son Ltd, a Pembrokeshirebased haulage company that operates over large swathes of Wales, will have its licence revoked in February, 2021, after it was found to have committed serious maintenance malpractice.
The company knowingly operated unsafe vehicles and behaved in a manner that “was right at the top end of the scale of non-compliance”, according to findings from the Traffic Commissioner following a public inquiry.
Those findings concluded that the firm “deserved to go out of business”, and also that directors David Mansel Kaye Davies and Stephen Mansel Edward Davies, together with transport manager Rhodri Wyn, should be disqualified indefinitely from acting in such roles in the future.
The news of Mansel Davies and Son Ltd’s impending termination as a business caused concern for the company’s workforce, which totals more than 300 people according to the firm’s website.
As part of the inquiry into the company’s conduct, the Traffic Commissioner noted that an application had been made to acquire a licence for a new company called Mansel Davies and Son Group Ltd, but the commissioner said: “I do not believe that the general public would understand if the licence of Mansel Davies and Son Ltd were to be revoked on account of the extensive malpractice described above, only for a licence to be granted to Mansel Davies and Son Group Ltd, operating the same vehicles in the same livery from the same operating centre.”
In a letter that was only sent to employees on Friday (December 11), it was stated that a new operating licence would be granted and that the name of the business moving forward would be MDS Distribution Limited.
The letter states: “Dear employee. Given your obvious worry as to the position following the revocation from February 1, 2021 of Mansel Davies and Son Limited’s operator’s licence, the Traffic Commissioner has kindly agreed to us notifying you of the future arrangements to continue the business.”
The letter continues: “Since the hearing concluded, the directors have been in further discussions with the commissioner, who has, on Friday, December 11, in a video hearing, confirmed that the new licence will be granted.
“This means that all employees will retain their jobs and all contracts will continue to be serviced.
“Your employment will be transferred to MDS Distribution under the same terms as your current employment with Mansel Davies and Son Limited.
“The business wishes to put all employees’ minds at rest that their jobs are safe.”
In the Traffic Commissioner’s report, which was published publicly on Friday, it was made clear that the two disqualified directors – Stephen Mansel Edward Davies and David Mansel Kaye Davies – should not have “a managing role in the business or any involvement with vehicle maintenance or compliance more generally”.
It also noted that “their time in charge of the business has gone – if there is any attempt to claw it back behind the scenes, the new company’s good repute is likely to be forfeit and its licence revoked.”
Nobody connected to Mansel Davies and Son Ltd or MDS Distribution Limited was prepared to add further comment at this stage.
The Traffic Commissioner’s office has been asked to comment.