More than 300 jobs have been axed a week before Christmas at Bristol-headquartered national truck hire firm Gulliver’s following the appointment of administrators.
Gulliver’s Truck Hire, which was established in 1960, operated a UK-wide truck hire business with a fleet of around 4,500 vehicles available on short and long-term contracts. 
David Pike and Mark Orton from accountancy group KPMG’s restructuring practice were appointed joint administrators of the family-owned firm, which has its head office at St Philips, earlier this week.
KPMG said at the time of the appointment that the administration would result in the redundancy of 311 employees “in due course”. It added that all employees would be paid their outstanding wages for the period from December 1 to December 31.
KPMG restructuring partner David Pike said: “It is very difficult to see a family business unable to carry on trading, especially at this time of year.
“Unfortunately, the Gulliver’s team faced significant challenges in tough market conditions. Despite efforts to deliver a turnaround and reposition the business, further losses have been incurred.
“This has impacted cashflow and led to the directors taking the difficult step to appoint administrators.
“We have worked with stakeholders to ensure that outstanding wages can be paid. In addition, we will work to ensure all employees who have been affected by redundancy receive all information and support they need in order to claim any other monies owed to them from the Redundancy Payments Office.
“We will also be carrying out a very short period of trading to facilitate a number of vehicle sales which will enhance the return to the company’s creditors.”
As well as its Bristol head office and depot, the firm also operated sites across the South West, Wales, Midlands and Greater Manchester.
Gulliver’s hired out a wide range of vehicles including HGV tractor units, refrigeration and other trailer units and along with vehicles for municipal use, such as street cleaners and refuse collectors.
According to a report on the Commercial Motor website, Gulliver’s managing director Philippe Harding – the son of founder Gabe Harding – wrote to employees on November 27 explaining that the directors had been tried, but failed, to find a buyer for the business.
The letter said that while interested parties had been identified, the company had been unable to secure the continued support of a small number of key creditors to allow sufficient time to progress that interest. As a result it would appoint administrators to run the business with a view to selling it.
Commercial Motor said the company made a pre-tax loss of £224,826 in the year to April 30, 2017, compared with a profit of almost £4m the previous year. It blamed the loss on an oversupply of tractor units.
