James Lumb and Howard Smith from Interpath Advisory were appointed joint administrators to Carlton Forest 3PL Ltd and Green Forest Solutions LLP on 25 March 2024, and to Carlton Forest Group Holdings Limited on 28 March 2024.
Based in Bawtry, South Yorkshire, Carlton Forest 3PL Ltd is an award-winning warehousing, distribution and logistics business. Employing 90 people, the Company operates over 1.2m sq ft of warehouse space across four sites in Bawtry, Worksop, Hellaby and Tuxhill.
Green Forest Solutions LLP owns the UK’s first and only continuous pyrolysis plant for end-of-life tyres, an innovative technology used across the tyre recovery and recycling sector.
In recent times, and in common with a number of other companies operating in the third party logistics sector, Carlton Forest 3PL had been battling industry and wider economic headwinds, including rising costs, significant excess warehouse capacity in the market and decreasing storage rates.
With pressure on the Company’s cashflow increasing, the directors sought to undertake a review of their options, including sale and investment options. However, when a solvent solution could not be found, they took the difficult decision to seek the appointment of administrators.
James Lumb, managing director at Interpath Advisory and joint administrator, said: “We are seeing a lot of businesses in UK logistics which are facing similar issues to Carlton Forest, driven by new warehouse capacity hitting the market over recent years, and the general destocking of the UK consumer economy as Covid-related supply chain disruption has subsided.
“Carlton Forest, like many of its peers in the market, had grown to meet demand and this has had the effect of increasing its overheads. Unfortunately, however, the race to the bottom on pricing and the loss of a key customer ultimately contributed to Carlton Forest’s inability to keep trading.
“Our immediate priority has been to work with employees, suppliers and customers to repatriate stock as quickly as possible, minimising disruption to customers as best we can.”
