W.E. Deane Limited (00768571): administration
- Status
- Administration ended
- Administration began
- 2021-08-16
- Administrators
- Jamie Taylor, Jeremy Karr, Simon John Killick
- Administrators' firm
- Begbies Traynor
- Incorporated
- 1963-07-23
- Location
- London
- Industry
- 52290 Other transportation support activities
Why it went into administration
- Creditor pressure / legal action
- COVID-19
- Supply chain disruption
- Loss of a key customer, supplier or contract
- Property / lease costs
- Sustained trading losses
- Competition / price pressure
From the administrators' statement
The Company operated as an international freight forwarder with in-depth knowledge of air, sea and road transport infrastructures as well as customs regulations around the world, providing bespoke logistics solutions to global clients. The Company was founded by William Edgar Deane in 1963 with Robert Falconer Senior joining the Company as managing director in 1972. Robert Falconer Junior was then appointed as a Company director in 2017 and Mr. Falconer Senior resigned from office in 2020. The Company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of W.E. Deane Holdings Limited ultimately controlled by Robert Falconer Senior and Colin Fitch.
On 2 September 1997, with the Company’s business expanding, it had secured the 25-year lease of a new, purpose-built head office building at Mayesbrook House in Barking, Essex. During the period of the lease the rental charge more than trebled while the competitive nature of the logistics/storage market served to reduce pallet rates (and therefore revenue). The ULEZ area was extended on 1 April 2021 taking in the Mayesbrook House facility which resulted in the Company losing contracts generating revenue of around £5,000,000.
In December 2019 COVID-19 started spreading throughout China which eventually led the Chinese government to close its borders. The Company's main import shipping route to the UK was from mainland China, resulting in key customers such as Faurecia and Hayters slowing down on imports into the UK. Up to that point the Company’s import department had been one of its most profitable divisions. Subsequently, the first national lockdown in the UK caused a significant and immediate downturn in business for the Company as European and deep-sea export became almost non-existent.
Administrators' statement of proposals (2021-10-13) · Companies House register