News reports show that Saints Transport has had a number of challenging years, facing difficulties well before coronavirus, Brexit and the growing driver shortage.
A Motor Transport article from 2017 shows Saints Transport saw a dramatic drop in pre-tax profit back in 2016, when the company underwent a major fleet renewal and chairman Piers Carroll completed a Management buy-out. The same source also reported that the company more than tripled its losses in the 18 months prior to 30 June 2019.
Saints Transport’s history goes all the way back to 1968, when it was founded by Martin Carroll and Steve Beeches. Until the administrators were called in on Monday, the company had remained under the control of Martin and Steve’s respective families.
According to Saints Tramsport’s website, the air freight specialist has 350 staff and an operating a fleet of 200 trucks. Moreover, the company has depots at the Heathrow, Manchester and Glasgow airports, with drivers based permanently at the Cardiff, Gatwick and Stansted airports.
Given the company’s long history, and the growing dominance of large logistics companies in the UK road freight market, a number of lorry drivers have expressed sadness at Saints Transport’s plight on social media.
The future of the firm now rests with administrators Paul Ellison and David Taylor of Reading-based KRE Corporate Recovery Limited.