Chilled food delivery haulage firm gone bust

A private equity-backed haulage firm specialising in chilled food deliveries has gone bust, adding to concerns about gaps on shelves as Britain heads for a ‘winter of discontent’. 

EVCL Chill, a subsidiary of EV Cargo, has filed for administration as per reports on Friday (24), adding to speculation that its two supermarket clients- Asda and Sainsbury’s- might need to take over the business to safeguard deliveries.

The haulage firm employed around 1,000 workers in warehousing and HGV driving roles. 

The firm operated depots in Penrith, Rochdale, Crick, Alfreton, Daventry and Bristol, and employed around 1,000 workers serving many of the nation’s Sainsbury’s and Asda supermarkets. 

EVCL Chill was responsible for delivering 10,000 pallets of food and drink a day into the two retailers, who reportedly have been in talks with administrator PwC for several weeks in a bid to safeguard a significant proportion of their chilled operations.

It is owned by venture capitalists Emergevest which, as a separate company, will avoid picking up the cost of the collapse, such as redundancy payments.

Trade union Unite has blamed the development on venture capitalists saying EVCL Chill’s collapse into administration is “a direct result of the parent company seeking to maximise short term returns at the expense of the investment needed to secure it’s long-term future”.

Unite the union, which has over 500 members at the company, is seeking to ensure that the workers employed directly on the Asda and Sainsbury’s contract will be transferred to work directly for the supermarkets as part of a rescue package.

The news comes amid worry that Britain will be faced with severe food shortages this winter due to a lack of lorry drivers and an ongoing energy crisis.

Several of Britain’s biggest retailers on Friday warned ministers the government had 10 days to save Christmas from ‘significant disruption’ due to the lack of HGV drivers.