A cluster of British road-freight operators has entered insolvency proceedings within days of one another, including a long-established Immingham haulier that had been trading since the late 1970s.
Chambers and Cook (Eastern) Ltd entered administration on 13 August, with three administrators from BK Plus appointed through the High Court in Birmingham. The company, whose principal trading address is in Immingham, was incorporated in October 1978 and is registered as a freight transport by road business. The administration notice was published on 20 August.
Companies House records show several changes shortly before the appointment. Company secretary Simon Roy Forrest ceased to hold office on 7 August, while two charges registered against the company were marked as fully satisfied on 11 August — two days before the administration began. The company had also filed its latest annual accounts on 6 July, covering the year to 30 September 2025.
Chambers and Cook (Eastern) is part of a wider group of companies operating under the Chambers and Cook name, so the administration should not be read as the collapse of the entire group.
Several other hauliers enter liquidation
The Immingham operator is not the only UK road-freight company to have entered insolvency proceedings in August.
SBS Transport Ltd, based near Evesham, entered creditors’ voluntary liquidation, with a liquidator appointed on 17 August.
HM Revenue & Customs had already petitioned to wind up the company in July.
Its latest filed accounts, for the year to April 2025, showed around £675,000 of assets and a similar level of liabilities, leaving net assets of just £189. The company reported an average of six employees.
- DAB Logistics Ltd, based at the Silver Birches Truck Stop near Stone in Staffordshire, entered creditors’ voluntary liquidation on 13 August. Its latest accounts showed approximately £269,000 in assets against £520,000 in liabilities, leaving net liabilities of around £250,000. The company employed an average of 16 people.
- Blackburn-based Majestic Transport Ltd entered liquidation on 14 August.
- Like SBS Transport, it had already been targeted by HMRC, which filed a winding-up petition against the company in July.
- Majestic Transport’s latest accounts showed around £68,000 in assets and £283,000 in liabilities, equivalent to net liabilities of roughly £215,000.
- Two smaller freight businesses also entered liquidation during the same period. Dan Sandu Trans Ltd went into creditors’ voluntary liquidation on 13 August, while Leicester-based MTN Drive Ltd entered liquidation on 17 August.
Insolvencies remain at historically high levels
The concentration of haulage failures comes against a backdrop of persistently high company insolvencies in England and Wales.
According to the Insolvency Service, 1,931 companies became insolvent in July 2026, 5% more than in June but 5% fewer than in July 2025.
The government’s figures therefore do not point to a fresh nationwide surge in insolvencies this year. However, insolvency levels have remained elevated since the second half of 2022, at levels comparable with those last seen around the 2008–09 recession.
For road transport operators, the latest failures underline the continuing financial pressure facing parts of the sector, with several companies entering formal insolvency proceedings within the space of only a few days.
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