Two haulage companies operating from the same Dorset base have collapsed into administration, with more than 40 staff made redundant after attempts to find a buyer failed.
Poole Bay Warehousing and Three Legged Transport – which shared premises in Wimborne and had identical directors – both entered administration in September, with Leonard Curtis appointed to handle their affairs.
Poole Bay was founded in 2009 and joined The Pallet Network (TPN) in 2011, covering Bournemouth and Poole postcodes. Three Legged Transport began trading in 2016, operating alongside Poole Bay, and joined UPN in 2019 before later expanding its TPN coverage. Between them, the companies held O-licences for 27 HGVs and employed 41 people.
In its report to creditors, Leonard Curtis said the collapse followed years of cumulative pressures, beginning with the UK’s post-Brexit driver shortages: “Since Brexit, the UK’s transport and distribution sector has been extremely challenging due to a shortage of drivers,” it said.
“Despite this, the companies continued to trade successfully for many years, providing a range of storage and distribution services, servicing a large number of customers and regularly winning new work.”
The pandemic then dealt a further blow, with operational disruption and a sharp reduction in available labour after many Eastern European drivers returned home, driving significant wage inflation. According to the administrator, global instability later triggered steep rises in fuel and power costs, while additional outgoings such as clean air charges and the reintroduced HGV levy heaped further pressure on margins.
The directors, Rennick McGowan and Anthony Squires, stepped back in 2024 for personal reasons and appointed a new chief executive, Hamish Cassels, but trading conditions continued to deteriorate. Despite efforts to build volume by hiring additional sales staff, both companies struggled to win enough new work in what the administrator described as a “fiercely competitive” market.
Upon Leonard Curtis’s appointment, both businesses ceased trading immediately and all employees were made redundant. No viable buyers emerged for either company.
The administrator had not responded to requests for further comment at the time of publication.