14.11.2006

Universal nears the end

KPMG the administrator for Universal Aerial Platforms Ltd, the London based access rental company, looks set to liquidate the business by the end of the year.

A further round of redundancies combined with large fleet disposals has left the a rump of the employees to simply collect equipment as contracts are terminated and prepare it for collection or shipment as it is sold.

Vertikal Comment

We will come back to this subject at a later date, but in the meantime this has been an incredibly inept administration.

When one considers the money that KPMG is taking out of this process and the benefits that they are likely to have provided in return to the employees, creditors or shareholders it is a scandal, and a sad end for a company of over 20 years standing.

We know of several companies that were interested in the business and the equipment but which gave up trying as it was simply too hard to deal with KPMG.

How this can fit with the new enterprise act one can only wonder. Perhaps KPMG will return a full 100 percent to all monies owed to all of the creditors? In which case they could at least have been said to have achieved something for someone other than themselves.

Don’t hold your breath.