Drivers shortage ‘hastened delivery company collapse’
MORE THAN 400 JOBS AT RISK AND ANOTHER 600 TRANSFERRED
MORE than 400 jobs are at risk after a Derbyshire chilled food delivery business collapsed into administration, partly driven by the driver shortage.
EVCL Chill has 1,092 full-time employees, administrators PwC said, of whom 658 have been transferred to customers along with a number of services.
It leaves 434 jobs at risk across its warehouses and depots in Derbyshire and the wider UK.
MORE than 400 jobs are at risk after a Derbyshire chilled food delivery business collapsed into administration – partly driven by the driver shortage.
EVCL Chill, in Alfreton, formerly known as NFT, has struggled following the loss of a number of key customers over the past year and severe driver shortages, administrators PwC said.
The business has 1,092 full-time employees, PwC said, of whom 658 have been transferred to customers along with a number of services.
It leaves 434 jobs at risk across its warehouses and depots in Alfreton, Daventry and Crick in Northamptonshire, Rochdale in Greater Manchester, Bristol, and Penrith in Cumbria.
PwC said EVCL Chill had a turnover of £167 million in the 12 months to December 2020 and was profitable, but had been hit hard by a loss of customers and the current driver shortages.
Eddie Williams, joint administrator, said: “This has been a very difficult situation and involved intense discussions with key stakeholders on an accelerated basis to get to this position.
“As businesses move from survival mode to recovery, the financial climate is still very volatile.
“I am pleased at least 658 roles will continue in a sector that is already facing many difficulties and challenges.
“We will continue to fully support all affected staff members during this difficult time.” Helen Wheeler Jones, joint administrator, added they would liaise closely with customers to fulfil orders, alongside other priority stakeholders including HMRC.
PwC said employees whose jobs have not been transferred to other firms would hear more about their futures this week.
It said EVCL Chill going into administration does not affect the wider EV Cargo Group, which continues to trade as before.
Union Unite said: “EVCL Chill workers have lost their jobs without warning, through no fault of their own, and Unite will be assisting its members in every way possible in coping at this difficult time.
“Unite will be providing support to help the affected workers find new work”.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Unite national officer Matt Draper said : “The collapse of EVCL Chill at a time when there is huge demand for lorry drivers in particular, further calls into question the role and involvement of venture capitalists in UK industry.
“There is something fundamentally wrong in a system which allows the wealthy owners of a company to avoid paying for its collapse while the taxpayer has to pick up the pieces.”
The news of EVCL Chill’s collapse comes ahead of an expected announcement by the Government that visa rules will be relaxed for foreign HGV drivers to get supply chains moving.
On Saturday, Tony Danker, the director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), called for a “temporary and managed” system to bring in foreign labour.
He told BBC Breakfast: “You need to be able to, on a temporary basis, on a fixed and managed basis, bring in skills we need now.”
Mr Danker said the CBI welcomed the Government’s ambition to recruit and train British workers, but said: “You can’t turn baggage handlers into butchers overnight or shopkeepers into chefs – you can do it over three to five years maybe, but you can’t do it overnight.”