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Transport giant calls in administrators

A 126-year-old transportation company with a base on Merseyside, which carries huge parts for nuclear power stations and wings for the latest generation of Airbus aircraft, has been forced into administration.

Haulier and shipping group Charles Gee, which has one of its major transportation hubs in Birkenhead, called in restructuring firm FRP Advisory after suffering “acute cashflow pressures” following years of tough trading.

Administrators warned job losses among its 250 staff are possible as they look for buyers of its various subsidiaries.

The group serves the nuclear power industry, and has offices in Clevedon and Bridgewater, close to the planned Hinkley C new nuclear power station in Somerset.

A spokesman for the administrators said Charles Gee had hoped to win work on the new nuclear plant.

“They have been waiting on Hinkley,” he said. “That would have been a big source of work and has not been helpful to their current situation. We are still a way away from construction.”

The company, named after its founder Charles Edward Gee, was established as a shipbroker in London in 1887, and specialises in shipping huge loads across Britain and Europe.

Charles Gee also has other transport hubs across the country, with sites in London, Tilbury in Essex, Felixstowe in Suffolk, Kings Lynn in Norfolk, Didcot in Oxfordshire, Chatham in Kent, Aylesford in Kent, Harmondsworth near Heathrow Airport and Hull in Yorkshire.

Geoff Rowley, FRP Advisory joint administrator, said: “We are highly focused on working with the group’s customers and suppliers and in engaging with interested parties.

“In line with economic issues facing many businesses, Charles Gee has faced challenging trading conditions for a number of years and despite the support of its loyal customer base, recent cash flow problems have prompted the need to seek the protection of administration.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .