Key points
- Q Delivery Services, founded in 2013 with sites in Widnes and Bedford, has moved from administration into creditors’ voluntary liquidation.
- Richard Cole and Steve Kenny of KBL Advisory became joint liquidators on 14 September 2026, two years after they were appointed administrators.
- The company’s last filed accounts cover the year to January 2023.
- 226 road freight businesses in England and Wales became insolvent between January and July 2026.
The company’s move into liquidation was confirmed in a notice in The Gazette.
From award winner to administration
Q Delivery Services was a family-run business that described itself as an end-to-end logistics company. It offered:
- part and full loads, with next-day, same-day and Saturday deliveries,
- UK-wide warehousing, including short- and long-term storage, stock management and pick-and-pack.
The firm was a member of the Palletforce network. In December 2021, it won three categories at the Palletforce awards, including the chairman’s “100% Club” award for the third year in a row.
Two years in administration
On 5 September 2024, the High Court appointed Richard Cole and Steve Kenny of KBL Advisory as joint administrators, according to The Gazette. Shortly afterwards, the company’s registered office moved from Widnes to the insolvency practitioners’ offices in Sale, Cheshire.
The administration was extended in 2025. On 14 September 2026, the case was converted into a creditors’ voluntary liquidation, with the same two practitioners acting as liquidators. This route is typically used when administrators expect some money to be paid out to unsecured creditors, who rank last in an insolvency.
Companies House records show the company’s accounts are overdue. The last accounts it filed cover the year to 31 January 2023.
Not an isolated case
Q Delivery Services is one of many UK hauliers to fail in the past two years. According to the Insolvency Service, 42 road freight and removal businesses in England and Wales became insolvent in July 2026 alone, up from 35 in June. Between January and July, the total reached 226. That is 13% fewer than a year earlier, but July’s figure was 5% higher than in July 2025. As we reported, UK hauliers are going bust faster, and in continental Europe the picture is even worse.
The pressure on smaller fleets is clear. In a Road Haulage Association survey earlier this year, 84% of operators said their margins had shrunk and 56.8% reported cashflow problems. Most of the 550 responses came from SME fleets. Read more: UK transport insolvency watch.
Warning signs to watch in partners and customers
A partner’s collapse can leave hauliers with unpaid invoices or lost work. These signals are worth checking regularly:
- Overdue accounts at Companies House. Late filing is often an early sign of financial trouble.
- A registered office that moves to an insolvency practitioner’s address.
- Notices in The Gazette, such as winding-up petitions or administrator appointments.
- Payment behaviour: slower payments, requests for longer terms or sudden, unusually low prices.
Simple steps help limit the risk: run credit checks, set credit limits, avoid letting debts with one customer build up and include retention of title clauses where relevant.
Owed money? What creditors should do
- Submit a claim to the liquidators at KBL Advisory, with copies of invoices and contracts.
- Check whether any goods you supplied are covered by retention of title.
- Ask your accountant about VAT bad debt relief, which can be claimed on debts more than six months overdue that have been written off.
For the UK haulage industry, Q Delivery Services is a reminder that awards and a long track record do not protect a business from rising costs and tight margins. For everyone who works with smaller fleets, it is a reminder to keep an eye on the numbers.
