The UK road freight transport sector grew by 34 per cent between December 2014 and November 2015, according to new figures by Creditsafe. The credit report provider’s analysis finds the number of active limited companies in the industry has increased from 21,245 to 28,510 in the last year.
Creditsafe has said that the growth has been helped by lower fuel prices and UK reliance on home deliveries. The data also reveals that company failures have remained below one per cent of the total number of businesses over the past year.
However the analysis also found that despite this growth, and ‘healthy credit rating’, there is still a ‘small proportion of bad debt in the industry’. Two per cent have outstanding or satisfied CCJs averaging £3,285 – which is a total of £2.15 million across the road freight transport industry.
“It’s encouraging to see such positive growth and business survival in the UK transport sector,” said Rachel Mainwaring, operations director of Creditsafe. “Firms are finding the environment more comfortable as fuel prices remain low and the prevalence of online shopping drives more profit and business.”
She added: “Though transport companies have a low number of CCJs against them, they still exist, and almost 500 are in our highest risk banding, so it’s still important to check out potential suppliers and partners with a detailed credit report.”
