Key points:
- The High Court made a winding-up order against Big Transport Kent Ltd from Dover on 28 October.
- The company was set up in July 2024 and had not filed its first accounts.
- HMRC has petitioned to wind up Swansea Bay Logistics Ltd, with a hearing on 18 November.
- KB Freight (UK) Ltd and FreightX Logistics Ltd have entered creditors’ voluntary liquidation.
- Kent-based KTS Trucks Ltd is being closed in a solvent members’ voluntary liquidation.
Big Transport Kent: wound up after 2 years
According to a notice in The Gazette, the High Court made a winding-up order against Big Transport Kent Ltd on 28 October. The petition was filed on 9 September, and the Official Receiver has been appointed as liquidator.
The company, registered in Dover and classed as a road freight business, was set up on 2 July 2024. According to Companies House, its first accounts were due in July 2026 but are overdue, and there is an active proposal to strike it off the register.
Swansea Bay Logistics: HMRC goes to court
HMRC has filed a petition to wind up Swansea Bay Logistics Ltd, a road haulage company from the Swansea Enterprise Park. The petition was presented on 2 October, and the hearing is set for 18 November at the High Court in London.
The company has been operating since July 2018. According to Companies House, its accounts for the year to July 2024 and its confirmation statement are overdue, and a strike-off proposal is also active.
HMRC is one of the most active creditors in haulage insolvencies. A winding-up petition from the tax authority usually means unpaid VAT, PAYE or corporation tax.
Two more freight firms in liquidation
Two other companies have entered creditors’ voluntary liquidation, which means directors decided to close them because they could not pay their debts:
- KB Freight (UK) Ltd from Hounslow, a freight transport and logistics business set up in January 2021, with a liquidator appointed on 4 November, according to The Gazette,
- FreightX Logistics Ltd, a road freight company registered in London and set up in February 2024, with liquidators from Begbies Traynor appointed on 29 October, according to The Gazette.
FreightX Logistics was less than three years old when it went under.
A solvent closure in Kent
Not every company leaving the market is insolvent. KTS Trucks Ltd, registered at the East Kent International Freight Terminal in Faversham, is being closed in a members’ voluntary liquidation. This procedure is used for solvent companies, whose owners decide to close the business and distribute its assets. According to the notice, the company’s main activity was the sale of new cars and light motor vehicles.
The pressures behind the collapses
The latest cases come at a difficult time for UK road transport. Diesel prices rose above £2 a litre in October, and the Budget did not bring the fuel duty relief the industry had asked for. Freight volumes are also falling: according to the Department for Transport, GB-registered lorries lifted 2% fewer goods in the year to June 2026.
Young companies with few trucks and little capital are especially vulnerable. Many of them have no reserves to cover a few months of unpaid invoices or a sudden rise in costs.
Since January, more than 50 UK transport and logistics companies have entered administration. Last week, HMRC also moved to wind up hydrogen fuel supplier Element 2.
