Oxford-based delivery firm Pedal and Post ‘ceased trading without notice’ and collapsed into liquidation leading to 60 job losses – it even had an impact on courier Evri
A major UK delivery firm collapsed into liquidation after 14 years in business.
Pedal and Post said it was “ceasing trading without notice” earlier this year, which had a knock on effect on Evri. Evri used Pedal and Post to deliver in Oxford’s Clean Air Zone, meaning residents in the city faced disruption to deliveries in February.
Brett Lee Barton and Margaret Carter, from Walsall-based BK Plus, were named as joint liquidators. The pair were appointed by members and creditors, as is typical with business failures.
Pedal and Post was headquartered in Oxford, on the Osney Mead industrial estate, though it had also branched out to London. Its distinctive proposition was delivering parcels by bike, cutting vehicle emissions and traffic congestion in both locations.
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Carol Leonard, who lives in Grandpont, Oxford, said several of her parcels – ordered in late January – were not delivered on time. They were eventually delivered on February 10 – two weeks after her orders were placed. An Evri spokesperson said: “We successfully deliver more than 900 million parcels each year, with industry-leading on-time delivery rates.
“We were disappointed to learn that our e-cargo bike delivery partner in Oxford ceased trading without notice, which caused some temporary disruption for a small number of customers in the local area.
“We have quickly re-organised deliveries in the area, and our local team are working hard to resume normal service. We have spoken to Carol to apologise for her experience and are pleased to confirm her parcel has been delivered this afternoon.”
Pedal and Post said the decision followed the loss of a major client earlier this year. Both its Oxford and London sites have now closed. CEO Christopher Benton confirmed that the company’s entire workforce of around 60 – a mix of self-employed and employed – were made redundant, BirminghamLive reports.
“Trying to be an ethical employer in a primarily self-employed industry is difficult,” Benton told Zag Daily. “Lower operating costs of cargo bikes really helped enable this to be able to pay better.”
“Our closure isn’t a reflection on cargo bike use or logistics. With simple, small businesses that are reliant on five to six major clients, it happens sometimes that you lose one and can’t sustain moving forward.”
Benton declined to name the client involved, stating that they had “met their contractual terms”.
