Reid Transport Close The Gates!

Workers at a haulage firm, now in administration, were reassured just five weeks ago their jobs were safe.
A total of 200 jobs are to be lost at Cloughmills-based Reid Transport Ltd after attempts to sell it failed.

A letter posted to employees last month described concerns over the firm’s future as “unfounded” and “malicious rumours”.

On Wednesday, workers arrived for work as normal only to be told they were being made redundant.

“All of Reids received a letter from managing director, Liam Reid, that there was absolutely nothing to worry about,” said Reid Transport employee Sonia McCready."

The County Antrim company also has depots in Dublin, London, Manchester and the West Midlands.

Administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers Efforts said every effort would be made to secure redundancy payments for the workers before Christmas.

This is a particularly difficult situation so close to Christmas, particularly when there is no prospect of saving the company and the jobs

Garth Callow
PricewaterhouseCoopers

‘No option’

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Garth Callow said the failure to find a buyer meant they had no option but to close the business and “implement an immediate redundancy programme”.

"A small number of workers are being retained to assist with an orderly run down of the operation, but drivers and sub-contract drivers already on the road have been asked to complete their current journey and they will be paid for this work.

“This is a particularly difficult situation so close to Christmas, particularly when there is no prospect of saving the company and the jobs,” said Mr Callow.

Good. That’s about 100 bent-runners off the roads then. :slight_smile:

Paul Hoggard:
Good. That’s about 100 bent-runners off the roads then. :slight_smile:

Having been made redundant once yrs ago i know how it feels and after coming out with a remark like that,i hope it never happens to you.As a matter of interest this info you have on bent running is it based on real knowledge or driver gossip,which we all know can sometimes be wrong.

why does it always seem to be around christmas time ?

Paul Hoggard:
Good. That’s about 100 bent-runners off the roads then. :slight_smile:

Very Charitable comment there I don’t think, I can echo dafdave’s comment’s there, let’s hope it doesnt happen to you eh? :angry:

it has.and it was just before xmas time so dont fly off the handle :confused: :angry:

dafdave:

Paul Hoggard:
Good. That’s about 100 bent-runners off the roads then. :slight_smile:

Having been made redundant once yrs ago i know how it feels and after coming out with a remark like that,i hope it never happens to you.As a matter of interest this info you have on bent running is it based on real knowledge or driver gossip,which we all know can sometimes be wrong.

I don’t need a VOSA man to tell me they’re running bent when they fly past everything in lane 3 at 70mph.

Good riddance to them.

Paul would you talk sense because your talking pure manure… :angry:

Reids are not closed because of ‘Bent’ running - the company is financially bust - which means the company has ran out of money to pay staff, bills etc etc… :wink:

Now Paul - VOSA did not close Reids and to be honest unless you are going to make use of this discussion in a proper manner, maybe you might refrain from talking rubbish and using space… :angry:

To make it clear again for you - Reids are financially bank rupt and not closed down by VOSA… :wink:

Just because their lorries and drivers went flying past you - don’t be jealous :wink:

Yeah but he didnt say that VOSA had closed them down did he. All he said was he didnt need a VOSA officer to tell him that they run bent , from his own experience (I dont know if they run bent or not as i dont see them on the road).

im not going to comment on their legality. i dont like bent operators but getting back to this thread, i dont like to see any company fold under these circumstances. it just shows how tough it is to survive in transport when a familiar name is to be no more :frowning:

I used to see them on the road a lot, seemed to be going up and down the M6 when they were on it.

They were fast, no question. Dangerous i wouldnt say so. Most prob doing about 60mph which i find hard pressed to call dangerous. Only one time ive seen a Reids truck driving irratically. Occasionally see one Reids truck somtimes south of Warrington which was really hammering along, was allways the same truck. But cant see ive ever seen them in lane 3.

Driving along, one would be coming up behind me and i would want out to overtake they would always let me out, even tho i would be slowing them down. A lot of other trucks doing similar speeds or slower won’t.

They were noticable because of the amount of them and the fact they were doing 60mph, so got the rep. But in truth driving the M6 most night there is a hell of a lot of UK trucks doing similar speeds, as a agency driver driven more than a few trucks which would over take them or keep pace with them whilst reading 55mph on the speedo and the tacho.

Running bent time wise, no idea but spoken with a few of there drivers at Shell Garage on ■■■■■■■■■■ Gap, and just general chat and the runs they were doing etc… didnt seem the kinda runs where you would need to go over hours etc… to do. Plus the fact see them a lot stoped taking a break.

Either way its a sad day and does make you think as Scanny said when a familar name goes, which seemed to have lots of trucks and lots of work. Say what you want about them, better than a lot of the big huge companies, where we prob all end up working for in the end when they take over everything. With insane H&S and trucks limited to 50mph and you will need a special certificate to blow your nose, plus a year assessment.

reading my own post, i realise its open to misinterpretation
i dont know about Reids legality. they may or may not run bent. i dont know and am not commenting on it.

not liking operators who run bent is a separate statement altogether and has no reflection on Reids one way or another

What I personally find hard to grasp on here is the simple fact - 200 people facing housing bills, car loans, families and staring at the very face of Christmas loose their jobs without any prior warnings etc…

All the most of this thread has seemed to concentrate on are if Reids were running bent…who cares…well and good if they got away with it for so long…the issue isn’t running bent and who seen a Reid lorry where doing some silly speed…the issue is - a massive company with great work and plenty of it suddenly comes to an end over night and 200 poor people are left truly gutted and you guys sitting in England wouldn’t see the news and views from Northern Ireland but I can tell you now - I’am sick myself and you just want to see those people standing outside locked gates today at Reids…heart breaking…

So lets talk some sense and not rubbish about running bent because lets face it…are you English fellas on here claiming to be innocent and that you run legal? Don’t start me thats an issue for another thread…

So please in future show some heart in your fellow UK and Ireland driver/staff transport colleagues because regardless what country you are in the transport job is the exact same…

Fact - Reid Transport Financially Bank-Rupt

Fact - 200 + People Left Truly Heart Broken & Jobless

Fact - No On Cares About Running Bent When Your Lively Hoods Taken From You Without Reason Nor Warning

Fact - Fancy Working For A Week Or More With Not One Single Penny? I Didn’t think so…just think about Reid staff who have just experianced that and jump down from your rocking horses…

Well said ScaniaV8, it is a disaster for the people working there, espec at this time of year.

Ive never been over the water, but i take it the area where Reids are is a small area, 200 jobs going in any area is a blow but if Reids is a big employer its a huge blow to the local economy of a small area.

Living in a unemployment “blackspot”, my sympathies go out to everyone effected, i am sure majority of people over here feel that way. Hopefully the work can be transfered somewhere else local and a lot of these guys can get other work.

Reid’s started Rallying this year Sponsering a team including Irelands top driver of the moment. They took over the finance payments for his car. Not sure of the cost of a state of the art Subaru but they were around the £350k mark a year or two back.
Also they ran and sponsered two Mitsubishi EVO cars as well. Wouldnt mind betting that around one million has been spent this year alone on that project. They got a little too big and ambitious in rallying!

Should of looked after business first and formost, £200 poeple seeking work, sorrys state of affairs. Best of luck to them all, been there done that its not nice.

dont know about the speeding bit and dont care either way.
but when i worked in engineering i saw thousands , not hundreds over the years loose there jobs through lay offs and redundancy, it was really hard for them at the time [ being chucked a letter as you were about to pack up on xmas eve . saw old chaps whod been there since they left school in tears as that all they knew, engineering .
but eventually they all got jobs elsewhere and all looked the better for not having the prospect of layoffs and redundancy hanging over there heads every day .
so it may look bad for them at this minute but hopefully longterm it works out well for them

im guessing it i thw white and blue reids? i thought i saw one of theirs on the m6 wednesday morning southbound

Tough break so close to x-mas.Im irish so speed limiters are of little concern.However if whats been said here is so widely known that aint a good thing. I used to see a guy 2 or 3 mornings a week around kildare m7 drivin an xl gobstopper 500 with a stack.Usually pullin a keystone lintels trailer.This guy always looked wrecked. Think he has earned a hopefully short holiday. :frowning:

ScaniaV8:
So lets talk some sense and not rubbish about running bent because lets face it…are you English fellas on here claiming to be innocent and that you run legal? Don’t start me thats an issue for another thread…

Calm down mate, and don’t be starting all that English/Irish nonsense on here again. Many Englishmen tar all Irishmen with the same brush, unfairly, but here you are doing the same thing with the English just because one Englishman made an uncalled for remark.

So please in future show some heart in your fellow UK and Ireland driver/staff transport colleagues because regardless what country you are in the transport job is the exact same…

Agreed, as like many others here, I also have been down that road on a couple of occasions.

Dont think he meant it personally. Just eh,passionatlely(spell-check)