City Link go into administration

[sammyc]

That's the end of that then.. taking all relevant market factors into consideration (& given the amount of complaints about them on here alone), 'shock' announcement may be a strong word, but nevertheless calling the administrators in on Christmas Eve.. hell of a blow for the workforce.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30602326

No buyer has been found to save the company - "substantial redundancies" over the coming days.

[OilSheikh]

Sad to see them go. They were a decent courier and very professional.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I am sorry for the people loosing their jobs - but City Link was managed by a load of incompetent baboons. They were so bad around my area,I refused to use any company which had them as a courier:

http://forums.hexus.net/general-disc...-citylink.html

They had been so bad around this area for the last decade people used to call them ****tylink.

It appears after they were given a £40 million lifeline last year,they still screwed up and spent all of it despite fuel costs going down.

[peterb]

Much of it came down to the individual drivers, good ones were... well, good, but the bad ones were dire.

DPD drivers seem better, I don' know if they are self employed under contract, or franchise, but they seem to have a better attitude, and the whole distribution system seems slicker.

[Bonebreaker777]

We used (my company) City Link for years. 50-100x parcels per day and one or two pallets per week. We always had a problem if not one of the regular drivers came.

Wonder who we will use now to replace. Either DPD or Yodel. Hope it is DPD...

[TheAnimus]

Much of it came down to the individual drivers, good ones were... well, good, but the bad ones were dire.

Which in my book has to be attributed to bad management. I do also agree that DPD have a much slicker service, in this day and age the idea of not having a warning that your delivery is due soon, appears, archaic frankly.

But what is even more just, just sad, is the union RMT.

This is the bitterest blow any group of workers could receive on Christmas Day and it is absolutely shocking that the company have sprung this announcement once all the Christmas deliveries have been completed.

This is frankly nutty, I can't imagine that the management team wanted to go into administration, but they legally have too if they were unable to re-finance or find a buyer. It's quite likely someone had issued some note to allow them capital to operate during what should have been one of the most profitable and busy periods for them. I can really see that funding ended after that period.

They just have this desire to scream at the tide for changing.

[peterb]

Yes, but that is the RMT posturing - it's intended for their members. After all, they are hardly going to turn round and empathise with 'management'. After all in their Triassic class warfare view of the world 'management' are the enemy!


(You will recall that the Trassic age was when dinosaurs were far more prolific than they are now)

[KeyboardDemon]

It is sad and I am a little surprised that they announced it on Christmas eve however as always for City Link, their timing was never one of their biggest strengths.

[Kumagoro]

10 years ago they seemed a common site but in the last 5 I hardly ever saw there vans about.

It was around the time DPD seemed to arrive. I guess they just came along and did it better and yodel just did it for peanuts.

[Saracen]

....

But what is even more just, just sad, is the union RMT.

....

This is frankly nutty, I can't imagine that the management team wanted to go into administration, but they legally have too if they were unable to re-finance or find a buyer. ....

That.

And more. Not only are they legally required to act once they know the company is insolvent, but directors can be held personally liable for debts, and/or further transactions undertaken, if they carry on trading knowing they were insolvent. Any such trading could be held to be "wrongful" or, worse yet, "fraudulent, and either can result in legal action against directors. It is one of the relatively small set of circumstances where the "veil of incorporation" protecting directors of limited companies can be lifted.

Obviously I've no idea if that was the case, but it's certainly plausible that they were holding on, with solvency on a knife-edge, during the Christmas peak, hoping to stay afloat. But once they know they're insolvent, they really have no practical choice but to act on it.

It is, obviously, very bad news for those whose jobs are jeopardised (or lost) but frankly, there's no good time to get that news. But directors will have had little or no choice.

[Spud1]

Bad timing and I do feel for the workers - but this is good news for Consumers. CityLink were up there with Yodel as candidates for "worst delivery company in the UK" and prior to yodels rise to power, they held that crown for over 10 years. Yodel are much, much worse, but still I have had more problems with City Link over the years than any other delivery company (apart form yodel, obviously!)

Here's hoping their former customers will give their business to people like DPD who tend to run a much more reliable service.

[TaintedShirt]

Oh wow, just read about this. Can totally empathize with the staff, what a crap time of year to get told this.

[ik9000]

I had good experiences of city link back in the day. ebuyer pretty much depended on them in early 21st century and it all seemed to work ok. not really encountered them. much in recent years

[MrRockliffe]

Would this affect Amazon purchases, as my new case which is being delivered by them (already in transit) has just been cancelled?

[ik9000]

Would this affect Amazon purchases, as my new case which is being delivered by them (already in transit) has just been cancelled?

possibly, Amazon do use a variety of shippers. the good thing is Amazon trend to look after their customers so I wouldn't worry too much. most of my recent Amazon's have been DPD but I don't always get to be the one who signs for them so it's possible some were city link I guess...

[MrRockliffe]

Well the order has already been cancelled, even though it says it's in transit. Online still says on schedule, but email says the following:

Hello,

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we're unable to deliver your*Amazon.co.uk*order (order number for the computer case) to you.

We've refunded your order in full. Your refund will go through in 2-3 business days and should show on your next statement. Please note that this doesn't include your bank's processing time.

If you'd still like the items you ordered, please return to our website and place a new order.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Regards,


Customer Service Department


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