Rick Harrison and Howard Smith from Interpath Advisory were appointed joint administrators to Tuffnells Parcels Express Ltd yesterday (12 June).
Headquartered in Sheffield and with 33 depots across the UK, Tuffnells specialises in the distribution of mixed freight and handling items of irregular dimension and weight (IDW).
The privately-owned business delivered both within the UK and internationally, handling the logistics to over 160 destinations worldwide.
The business returned to private ownership in 2020 when it was acquired by Palm Bidco Ltd but since then administrators said it had to navigate a number of pressures which impacted trading, including Covid, high cost inflation, and an increasingly competitive market.
In recent weeks, the financial position of the business was such that it needed to seek additional financial support. After several options were explored, the directors took the decision to seek the appointment of administrators.
In a statement released today, Harrison said: “Tuffnells is one of the UK’s most recognisable logistics companies, providing delivery services to over 4,000 businesses across the UK under its ‘The Big Green Parcel Machine’ brand.
“Unfortunately, the highly competitive nature of the UK parcel delivery market, coupled with significant inflation across the company’s fixed cost base in recent times, has resulted in the company experiencing intense pressure on cashflow.”
He added: “Today’s news will be particularly devastating for Tuffnells’ 2,200 dedicated employees. Regrettably, with deliveries suspended and with no prospect of them resuming in the immediate term, we have had to make the majority of staff redundant.
“Our utmost priority will be to provide all those impacted with every support they need in making claims to the Redundancy Payments Office and minimising disruption to customers.”
Smith added: “Customers are advised that all transport hubs and depots have been closed until further notice. Our team will be making contact with customers over the coming days to arrange parcel collection.”
The administrators advised B2B customers of Tuffnells to log into their customer portal on the company’s website to receive further information on how to retrieve their parcels. Customers who are expecting a parcel from Tuffnells that has not been delivered are advised to contact the seller for a resolution “as Tuffnells is regrettably unable to deliver any parcels”.
ParcelHero’s head of consumer research David Jinks, a longstanding member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, said the company’s demise was “a sad, if not entirely unexpected, loss to the parcels sector”.
“Tuffnells has had a long history but, in recent years, its infrastructure had difficulty responding to the fast-changing world of e-commerce home deliveries. Inflation also played a part in its demise, leading to cashflow problems.
“What should its customers do? Anyone with parcels in transit is best advised to sit tight. Tuffnells’ administrators say there is still a team in place who will be making contact with customers to arrange parcel collection. When they do get in touch, my strong advice is to act quickly to secure your items, while these temporary arrangements are still in place.”
