Key takeaways
- Mallock originally owed HM Revenue and Customs just over £1.1 million.
- The company made 12 monthly payments of around £22,000, with £256,905 distributed to HMRC.
- Around £855,000 in tax debt remained when the business entered administration.
- Its average workforce had already fallen from 88 to 66 employees in the preceding year.
Mallock Limited, which also traded as Ecomotive Logistics, entered administration on 12 June. Companies House lists its principal activity as freight transport by road.
The company specialised in moving new and used vehicles, transporting cars between dealerships and delivering them from dealers to customers using car transporters and trade plate drivers.
Creditors approved a Company Voluntary Arrangement, or CVA, in May 2025. The formal agreement allowed the company to repay its debts according to an agreed schedule while continuing to trade.
In Mallock’s case, however, the arrangement ultimately failed to save the business.
What the £1.1 million debt actually meant
An official statement of receipts and payments filed at Companies House shows that HMRC had a preferential claim of £904,238 and an unsecured claim of £207,649. Together, the two claims amounted to £1,111,887 — just over £1.1 million.
That was the original amount claimed by HMRC, rather than the balance still outstanding when the company collapsed.
Mallock made 12 monthly payments of around £22,000 under the CVA. A total of £264,000 was paid into the arrangement, of which £256,905 was distributed to HMRC. Around £855,000 of HMRC debt therefore remained when the company entered administration.
Other unsecured creditors were owed an estimated £83,000 under the CVA documents, making HMRC by far the company’s largest creditor.
Companies House records show that the CVA was approved on 7 May 2025 and ended on 19 June 2026, one week after the administrators were appointed.
Agreement failed after missed payment
Filed documents show that Mallock maintained its agreed payments for 12 months but was unable to make the next instalment, which was due in May 2026.
After the payment was missed, the CVA could no longer continue and the company entered administration shortly afterwards.
David Kemp and Richard Hunt were appointed as joint administrators. They will assess whether the company, or part of it, can be rescued, whether its assets can be sold and how much creditors are likely to recover.
It is not yet clear whether the administrators will seek a buyer for the whole company or individual parts of the operation. A clearer picture of the likely returns to creditors should emerge once they publish their detailed proposals.
Workforce had already fallen by a quarter
Mallock’s latest accounts, covering the year to 31 March 2025, show that it employed an average of 66 people, down from 88 a year earlier.
According to the company’s earlier promotional material, it had once operated with a team of more than 150 people, including around 100 trade plate drivers and 30 car transporter drivers.
The number of jobs affected by the administration has not yet been confirmed.
