At a glance
- DVSA evidence indicated that five vehicles on BJL Skip Hire’s licence were actually being operated by GEB Logistics Ltd.
- GEB Logistics had previously applied for its own operator’s licence but was refused.
- The Traffic Commissioner found that BJL had facilitated a bypass of the licensing process.
- BJL’s licence will be revoked and the company disqualified from holding another licence for 12 months.
- Two transport managers have lost their good repute and been disqualified indefinitely.
BJL Skip Hire Limited held a standard national operator’s licence authorising 10 vehicles and 20 trailers. Traffic Commissioner David Mullan has ordered the licence to be revoked from 23:45 on 6 October and disqualified the company from holding another operator’s licence for 12 months.
Roadside check triggered investigation
The case began after DVSA stopped a vehicle, registration KY19HDU, on 29 March 2025. The vehicle was displaying a BJL Skip Hire operator licence disc, but the driver told the examiner that he worked for GEB Logistics Ltd and that the vehicle was kept at Stalybridge, which at the time was not an operating centre listed on BJL’s licence.
GEB Logistics did not hold an operator’s licence. An application it made for a standard national licence in 2023 had been refused. A second application, submitted in October 2025, was subsequently refused in April 2026. Brian Johnson, who was also a transport manager for BJL Skip Hire during part of the period investigated by DVSA, had been proposed as GEB Logistics’ transport manager in both applications.
DVSA’s investigation subsequently focused on five vehicles listed on BJL Skip Hire’s licence. According to the Traffic Commissioner’s decision, invoices and other records showed that the vehicles were in fact being used by GEB Logistics. Drivers were employed by GEB, while vehicle and driver records requested by DVSA were also supplied by GEB rather than BJL.
The Traffic Commissioner concluded that licence lending had occurred at least between February and May 2025.
‘Facilitated a bypassing’ of the licensing system
Mullan said the fact that GEB Logistics had already been refused an operator’s licence made the arrangement particularly serious. He found it more likely than not that BJL Skip Hire had sought to facilitate GEB Logistics’ transport operations and said allowing the company to use BJL’s licence had effectively circumvented the regulatory process.
The Commissioner said licence lending fundamentally undermines a system designed to ensure that businesses carrying goods are fit, competent and financially sound.
When vehicles are operated by one company using another company’s licence, regulators can also lose visibility over who is actually responsible for maintenance, drivers and compliance systems, the decision noted. Mullan added that the arrangement had compromised fair competition and undermined the earlier decision to refuse GEB Logistics entry to the profession.
He placed the case in the “Severe to Serious” category for regulatory action and concluded that he could no longer trust BJL Skip Hire to comply with operator-licensing requirements.
Operator failed to provide records or attend inquiry
The Traffic Commissioner also criticised BJL Skip Hire’s response to the DVSA investigation. DVSA said it repeatedly struggled to obtain information from the company, while BJL later failed to comply with directions requiring it to submit financial, maintenance and driver records ahead of the public inquiry.
Director Benjamin Lawton requested an adjournment the day before the hearing because of a medical appointment. The request was refused, partly because BJL had three directors and another director could have represented the business. The inquiry went ahead in Golborne on 8 September. No BJL director and neither of the two transport managers attended, and no written representations were provided.
The absence of evidence demonstrating that the licence-lending arrangement had stopped allowed the Commissioner to draw an adverse inference that the problems remained unresolved. The five vehicles identified by DVSA were still listed on BJL’s licence at the time of the inquiry.
Two transport managers disqualified indefinitely
Former transport manager Brian Johnson, who held the role between January 2025 and February 2026, was found to have lost his good repute. The Commissioner said that given Johnson’s responsibility for the continuous and effective management of transport operations, he must either have known that the vehicles were being operated by GEB Logistics and turned a blind eye, or been unaware and therefore failing in his responsibilities.
Johnson was disqualified indefinitely from acting as a transport manager. Current transport manager Brian Derek Taylor, appointed in April 2026, was also disqualified indefinitely.
Although the original DVSA evidence pre-dated his appointment, the same vehicles remained on BJL’s licence. Taylor had been directed to demonstrate how he was exercising continuous and effective management but did not provide the requested evidence or attend the inquiry.
BJL Skip Hire’s licence will be revoked at 23:45 on 6 October 2026, giving the business time to bring its transport operations to an orderly end. The Commissioner specifically warned that during this period BJL’s licence must not be used by vehicles operating on behalf of GEB Logistics.
